John 18:15-27

¹⁵ Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, ¹⁶ but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. ¹⁷ The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸ Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself. ¹⁹ The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. ²⁰ Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. ²¹ Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” ²² When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” ²³ Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” ²⁴ Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. ²⁵ Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”²⁶ One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” ²⁷ Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

In the last church I pastored I spent a great deal of time reading the old minutes of the church.  They began in 1849 and I had the original handwritten minutes.  What was recorded in those minutes was interesting and sometimes strange and often very inspiring.

One of the interesting things I noted was how that church handled issues of church discipline in the mid-19^th century.  As I read the minutes, I noticed a couple of names that would recur time and time again in discipline situations.

One name was that of a man in the church at that time who apparently had a penchant for swearing, drinking alcohol and gambling.  More than once he was brought before the church and placed under the discipline of the church.  Then he would repent and be restored.

One of the records about one of the discipline situations he was involved in struck me as interesting.  He had been brought before the church for some combination of drunkenness and gambling, but this record stated something extra.  In the list of charges was the phrase, “He denied his membership in the church.”

Now, to be perfectly honest, that struck me at the time as somewhat humorous.  I mean, imagine this guy in some dingy hovel.  He’s drinking and cursing and gambling with his friends.  One of his buddies looks up and says, “Hey, aren’t you a member of First Baptist?  What are you doing down here with us.” And he, to avoid the unpleasant implication, responds, “Me?  A member of First Baptist?  No way.  I have nothing to do with those people.”

There is a kind of pitiful but humorous thought here…but it is much more pitiful than humorous.  In fact, the more I thought about it the darker it became.  It is no small thing to deny a relationship, to disavow any association with another person or a group of people to whom you belong.  And to deny a relationship in an effort to avoid condemnation seems especially cowardly and shameful.  As I reflected on it, I could see how the church at that time viewed this man’s denial of association as a flagrant and cowardly compounding of his other sins.

I suspect there is something within Christianity that is especially averse to cowardly denials of association.  After all, one of the most notorious sins in all of Scripture involves this very act.  I am speaking, of course, of Peter and his three-fold denial of his association and relationship with Jesus.  In truth, Peter’s sin and the sin of this 19^th century Baptist Christian from Georgia were one and the same: they denied a relationship with Jesus and the people of God so that they could avoid the pain and discomfort of having to acknowledge their association and relationship.

It is a dangerous thing to try to grade sins and I think we should avoid it, but let me suggest that there is something about Peter’s crime here that justly deserves its shameful reputation.  The fact that Jesus had foretold Peter’s denials does not lessen the shock of the act when it happens.  It is, to be sure, a scandalous and unbelievable act.  And yet, it is an act that we cannot condemn dispassionately, that we cannot feign surprise over.

One of the most disquieting aspects of Peter’s denials is how we see ourselves – our own sins, our own cowardly disassociations, our own denials – in his actions.  We may marvel at Peter’s sins…but only so much.

This scene is one of shame and degradation.  Jesus is hauled before the authorities and Peter lurks in the shadows denying that he knows Him.  There is shame here, but there is also irony here.  In truth, there are four painful ironies in this story that challenge us in our own lives today.  I invite you to consider these ironies with me now.

I.  Irony #1:  Jesus invites His accusers to ask His disciples for the truth at the same time that His disciple is lying to the accusers who are asking him for the truth. (v.15-21)

John’s account begins with some interesting details about Peter’s entry into the court of the high priest.

¹⁵ Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, ¹⁶ but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in.¹⁷ The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸ Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

We begin by noting that Peter is not in the courtyard alone.  “Another disciple” is with him.  We learn from this passage that this other disciple “was known to the high priest.”  How well he was known we do not know, but it was well enough to grant him entry into the courtyard of the high priest.  Furthermore, his word was enough to get Peter in as well.

This other disciple has traditionally been thought of as John, the author of the gospel.  There is no real reason to dispute that.  So on John’s word Peter is admitted.  As Peter enters through the door, the young lady guarding the door asks him a question that leads to Peter’s first denial.

¹⁷ The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸ Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

The way that she asks this question, leading with the negative, temptingly invites Peter’s denial.  Her question assumes and almost prods Peter towards a negative:  “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?”  Peter gives in to the temptation and responds bluntly, “I am not.”  This shameful denial sets the stage for the first painful irony of this scene, for just as Peter is being questioned, so, too, is Jesus.

¹⁹ The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. ²⁰ Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. ²¹ Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.”

Annas wants Jesus to explain Himself.  Jesus responds by telling Annas to interview or call witnesses. Many commentators point out that Jesus is subtly pointing out the “kangaroo” nature of this kangaroo court.  Proper protocol and procedure in a trial involved witnesses.  Annas directly questions Jesus and Jesus responds by denying that there is anything He’s been hiding.  In fact, He has “spoken openly to the world…I have said nothing in secret.”

What He says next creates a painful irony in light of Peter’s simultaneous denials:  “Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.”

Do you see the painful irony of this scene?  Jesus invites His accusers to ask His disciples for the truth at the same time that His disciple is lying to the accusers who are asking him for the truth.

It is hard to describe how uncomfortable, how shameful, or painful this image is.  Here stands Jesus before His accusers.  He is questioned.  He responds:  “Hey, go ask my disciples.  Go ask anybody.  I’ve said what I’ve said openly.  Go ask those who heard me and they’ll tell you who I am and what I’m about.”

And there, behind his back is Peter and a young girl.  The girl is doing precisely what Jesus told Annas to do.  She is asking His disciple for an explanation.  She is asking the most basic question of all:  you know this man, right?  You follow Him?  And he denies it!

How can the accusers of Jesus get an answer from the followers of Jesus when the followers of Jesus will not even acknowledge that they know Him?

There’s an old joke about the Lone Ranger and Tonto that illustrates what is happening here.  The Lone Ranger and Tonto are riding out across the plain when suddenly they find themselves surrounded by a large war party of hostile Indians.  They are completely surrounded and the Indians on whose land they are riding are not happy.  This is not going to turn out well.  So the Lone Ranger turns to Tonto and says, “Well, Tonto, at least we have each other.”  At which time Tonto responds and says, “What do you mean ‘we,’ white man?!”

We laugh…but not here.  Jesus essentially says to Annas, “Hey, it’s not like I stand alone up here.”  And the leader of His disciples, His friend, one of the inner circle, His right hand man says, “Yeah you do.” Jesus, of course, knew this would happen…but oh the pain of it when it happened!

And it happens again and again and again.

I imagine the Lord Jesus saying to the devil, “My friends, my disciples, my church, my people, they will tell the truth about me.  They will speak up.  I need not bear witness to myself.  There are plenty who will do that for me.”

And here we are.  And it seems like we are either too busy or too distracted or too quiet or too scared to say a word.  Like Peter, we deny when Jesus would have us speak.  We avoid when Jesus would have us engage.  We say nothing when Jesus would have us proclaim the truth.

II.  Irony #2:  Annas’ “disciple” defends his master’s honor at the same time that Jesus’ disciple refuses to acknowledge his Master at all. (v.22-24)

Jesus challenges Annas, and, in doing so, He invites the hostile reaction of the surrounding mob.

²² When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” ²³ Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” ²⁴ Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

As if the shame of Peter’s denial was not enough, this officer heightens it by his rude and harsh movement to protect his master’s honor.  The great Greek scholar A.T. Robertson referred to this unnamed officer as “one of the temple police who felt his importance as protector of Annas.”[1]

Why did he react the way he did?  For one thing, he heard the implicit challenge to this farcical trial in Jesus’ reference to witnesses.  He knew that Jesus was already highlighting the illegitimacy of this whole proceeding.  Furthermore, Jesus’ whole posture and tone, while in no way impudent or disrespectful, represented a pretty radical departure from the way that people were supposed to act and the way people normally acted before judges at that time and in that culture.  The ancient Jewish historian Josephus said that, normally, in the ancient world, people stood before their judges with “humility, timidity, and mercy-seeking.”[2]  New Testament scholar Craig Keener has said that, in ancient law courts, “submissive cringing” was “expected by those who appeared before the municipal authorities.”[3]

Jesus was neither timid nor did He cringe.  He stood in the midst of His Father’s will and spoke with an authority that Annas and his household would never have.  So the officer reacts.  He strikes Jesus with his hand.

Just take a moment and think about that.  Think of the irony of this situation.  Annas’ “disciple” defends his master’s honor at the same time that Jesus’ disciple refuses to acknowledge his Master at all.

Obviously, Peter should not have struck Annas the way that this officer struck Jesus.  That whole approach was already condemned by Jesus in Gethsemane when Peter drew his sword.  No, Peter was not wrong for refusing violence.  Peter was tragically and shamefully wrong by not standing with his Savior and Master and Lord at all.

To read this account we reach an inescapable and unbelievable conclusion:  this officer was more concerned with Annas’ honor than Peter was with Jesus’.  This officer was more concerned that Annas be recognized for his earthly authority than Peter was that Jesus be recognized for His Heavenly authority. This officer was quicker to defend Annas’ mistakes than Peter was to defend Jesus’ truth.

And so it goes.  Have you ever noticed how lost people often seem more passionate about defending their lostness than saved people do about defending the truth?  Why the secular officers of our day relish standing with conviction on their mistakes when the people of God cannot even be found many times to defend the truth?

We sit in silence while the world reacts with energy and enthusiasm and passion for their agenda.

If this paid officer can defend his sham boss without even thinking about, could Peter not have mustered the courage to at least stand with King Jesus?

If the world can react with impulsive passion in defense of their cause, why is the church so timid and silent in speaking truth in love for Jesus?

III.  Irony #3:  Jesus embraces great physical pain at the same time that Peter avoids lesser physical discomfort. (v.18, 22, 25)

Into this whole heartbreaking scene we see a twice-repeated detail that takes the irony even higher.  We see this detail in verses 18 and 25:

¹⁸ Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

²⁵ Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”

Yes, twice in our text John tells us that (a) a fire was built to fight off the cold and (b) Peter put himself at the fire to keep himself warm.  Imagine this!  Imagine this!

²² When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?”

¹⁸ Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

²⁵ Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”

Do you see the scandalous irony of the contrast between what Jesus is doing and what Peter is doing? Jesus is embracing great physical pain at the same time that Peter is avoiding lesser physical discomfort. Jesus is submitting to being pummeled at the same time that Peter is having to rotate periodically so that his front or back does not get too hot.

Church:  behold in a nutshell the great contrast between Jesus and the whole human race.  Jesus stands in conviction and truth and receives pain.  We stand in cowardly compliance and sell our souls to remain comfortable.

Jesus sets His face towards the hellish horrors of the cross.  We set our faces towards just a little more comfort.

Peter shivers and says, “I need to get a little closer to the fire.”  Jesus stands and says, “I am ready to walk to the cross.”

We may expect this of the world, but this is utterly diabolical when the church does this.  How dare we seek to warm ourselves at the fire when the Son of God is being beaten by wicked men!  How dare we want just a little bigger house, just a little more money, just a little more posh vacation, just a little better car, just a little more expensive clothes, just a few more comforts…when our Jesus is giving Himself over to suffering unjustly on our behalf!

Mary Antoinette is just condemned for saying of the starving peasants, “Let them eat cake!”  She is condemned because it was a callous taunt and a deliberate mocking of an impossibility.  The peasants had no cake to eat.

Mary Antoinette said, “Let them eat cake,” and the people starved.  Jesus says, “Take up your cross,” and we’re busy eating cake!  What a scandal!  What a tragedy!  What a crime against the throne of Heaven when the people of God are busy warming themselves at the fires of our own comfort while the Son of God is bleeding out trying to win the world to His Father.

I’ve always loved that great adoption passage in Romans 8.  Do you know the one?  It is where Paul speaks of the fact that we used to be outside of the family but now we are in the family.  It is where Paul says that we have been adopted into the family of God through the blood of Jesus.

But, to be honest, I’ve always felt awkward about how this passage ends.  The whole passage is beautiful and moving.  It lends itself to sentimentality:  we were homeless orphans but now we are in the family. And we love to quote these verses where we are told that we can cry out to God as, “Abba!” as “Father!” But have you ever noticed how this section ends?  Listen:

¹² So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. [italics added]

That last phrase seems so awkward…and so necessary.  You cannot claim to be a co-heir with Jesus, to be a brother of Jesus, if you will sit by silently while He suffers, if you will not stand with Him in the mission of the gospel in the world today, if you will choose the lesser gods of comfort over Him.  This does not mean that the Christian life is nothing but suffering.  But it does ask the question, “When it comes time to choose between standing with Jesus and paying a price or denying Jesus to maintain your comfort, which will you choose?”

Peter chose the warm fire.  Oftentimes so do we.

Oh, church:  when your Savior stands before a hostile world, will you stand with Him, or will you deny him around the warm fires of the world?  

IV.  Irony #4:  Peter refuses to pay for a crime he committed at the same time Jesus is paying for crimes He did not commit. (v.25-27)

John offers us yet another tantalizing detail that highlights yet another terrible irony.

²⁵ Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”

Here is the second denial.  The question posed to Peter is structurally the same as the first.  It assumes a negative answer:  “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?”  Peter gives the same terse response: “I am not.”

Then, however, the third question comes right on the heals of the second.  How it comes and the person through whom it comes increases the awkwardness of this scene exponentially.

²⁶ One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?”

John essentially tells us three things about this questioner:

• He worked for the high priest.
• He was related to Malchus, the man whose ear Peter cut off in Gethsemane.
• He was present in Gethsemane when Peter cut his relative’s ear off.

These last two details are very important and introduce a new wrinkle into Peter’s third denial.  What this means is the man is not merely asking Peter if he is a disciple, he is getting around to figuring out that Peter is the disciple who committed the crime of drawing a sword and hacking the ear off of (a) a relative of his and (b) a member an arresting party.  In other words, his connection to Malchus and his question suggest that Peter is being backed into a corner where he may have a violent crime (i.e., attacking a member of the arresting party with a sword) pinned on him.  In other words, what is at stake here is likely Peter’s own arrest and Peter’s own guilt.  If Peter says, “Yes, you saw me in the garden,” it is a mere step or two before the guy says, “I thought so…and I remember what you did!  Guards!  Arrest this man!”

You must grasp the ironic predicament Peter is faced with.  To acknowledge Jesus means that Peter will have to pay for his crime.  The response is predictable and tragic.

²⁷ Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

His denial, and the likely reasons for his denial, highlight the most startling irony of the whole scene: Peter refuses to pay for a crime he committed at the same time Jesus is paying for crimes He did not commit.  Peter denies his actual guilt at the same time that Jesus accepts a guilt that is not His.

He denies and the rooster crows.  In Luke 22, Luke offers this additional information:

⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. ⁶¹ And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” ⁶² And he went out and wept bitterly.

The cock crows.

And Jesus turns and looks at Peter.

And Peter now understands.

“And he went out and wept bitterly.”

No doubt he did.  His crimes were great.  His crimes were cowardly.  His crimes were shameful.

He said nothing when Jesus said, “Ask those who heard me.”

He did nothing while Annas’ officer protected his honor.

He chose the warm fire while Jesus choose the brutal cross.

And He avoided punishment for crimes which were his at the same time that Jesus accepted punishment for crimes that were not.”

And the cock crowed.

And Jesus turned and looked him in the eye.

In Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s beautiful poem, “The Look,” she reflects on Jesus looking up at Peter after Peter’s third denial.

The Saviour looked on Peter. Ay, no word,

No gesture of reproach; the Heavens serene

Though heavy with armed justice, did not lean

Their thunders that way: the forsaken Lord

Looked only, on the traitor. None record

What that look was, none guess; for those who have seen

Wronged lovers loving through a death-pang keen,

Or pale-cheeked martyrs smiling to a sword,

Have missed Jehovah at the judgment-call.

And Peter, from the height of blasphemy–

‘I never knew this man ‘–did quail and fall

As knowing straight THAT GOD; and turned free

And went out speechless from the face of all

And filled the silence, weeping bitterly.

“And he went out and wept bitterly.”

And so do I.  And so do I.  For I am Peter.  I am Peter.

Surely Peter received the wrath of the Jesus he denied, right?  Surely I receive the wrath of the Jesus I have denied, right?  Surely you will receive the wrath of the Jesus you have denied, right?

Wrong.

Wrong.

For here is the awesome truth of the matter:  Jesus came to die for Peter as well.  I am shocked at Peter’s denials.  I am shocked at my denials.  Jesus is not shocked at all.

He did not come for the righteous.  He came for the wicked.  He came to save the lost and He came to save hypocritical church members.  He came to save Annas in his self-righteousness.  He came to save the brutal officer in his violent rage.  He came to save good John and his commendable but still-insufficient virtues.  And He came to save Peter:  lying, denying, comfort-seeking, Jesus-abandoning, unfaithful Peter.

He came to save us all.  John will write later in his first letter:

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So come Peter.  Come John.  Come Annas.  Come officer.  Come Malchus.  Come relative of Malchus. Come little girl guarding the door.  Come those of you around the fire.  Come one.  Come all.  For He is standing there for you.  He is taking the blows for you.  He is taking the pain for you.  And by His stripes you will be healed.

John 18:1-14

¹ When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. ² Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. ³ So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. ⁴ Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” ⁵ They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. ⁶ When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. ⁷ So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” ⁸ Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” ⁹ This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” ¹⁰ Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) ¹¹ So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” ¹² So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. ¹³ First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. ¹⁴ It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people.

The Bible is a story about gardens.

Indeed, the whole human race is a story about gardens.  Our story as a race began in a garden:  Eden.  Our story as a fallen race finds its hope in a garden:  when Jesus accepts the reality of the cross in Gethsemane.  And our story as a redeemed race finds its fruition back in the garden:  in the Kingdom of God where we see the tree of life and its leaves for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:2).

Or we might say more specifically that the story of the whole human race is a story about trees.  We fell at the foot of the forbidden tree.  We are saved at the foot of Jesus’ tree, the cross.  We enter our eternal joy in the shadow of the tree of life in the Kingdom of God.

After praying for His disciples, Jesus goes to the garden for His betrayal.  At the beginning of His ministry He went into the wilderness for His temptation.  Here He goes into a garden for His betrayal.

It is not by accident that He comes to a garden.  The fingerprints of Eden are all over this story.  Indeed, the Apostle Paul will draw the parallel and the contrast between Jesus and Adam later on, but many of the Jews would likely have seen the irony admittedly.

Eden and Gethsemane.  Adam and Jesus.  The garden where we fell.  The garden where Jesus determines to save us.

This connection is crucial.  It is crucial because just as Adam and Eve stood in the garden at the dawn of creation, so Jesus, the second Adam, stands in the garden at the dawn of new creation.  Just as Adam ushered in death by sinning against God in the garden, so Jesus will usher in life by being obedient in the garden.

Again, it is not by accident that Jesus was betrayed and arrested in the garden.  While everything has been leading up to the cross, the reality of the cross begins here, in the garden.

Eden and Gethsemane.  Let us consider these two gardens.

I. In Eden, a man is deceived by the devil.  In Gethsemane, a man is betrayed by a friend. (v.1-3)

Jesus has finished His amazing High Priestly Prayer (ch.17) and now He leads His disciples to the garden of Gethsemane.

¹ When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. 

It is interesting that John notes Jesus and the disciples crossing “the brook of Kidron.”  William Barclay offers an intriguing thought about this little detail.

“They would leave by the gate, go down the steep valley and cross the channel of the brook Kedron.  There a symbolic thing must have happened.  All the Passover lambs were killed in the Temple, and the blood of the lambs was poured on the altar as an offering to God.  The number of lambs which were slain for the Passover was immense.  On one occasion, thirty years later than the time of Jesus, a census was taken and the number was 256,000.  We may imagine what the Temple courts were like when the blood of all these lambs was dashed on to the altar. From the altar there was a channel down to the brook Kedron, and though that channel the blood of the Passover lambs was drained away.  When Jesus crossed the brook Kedron it would still be red with the blood of the lambs which had been sacrificed.[1]

This is a provocative thought:  the Lamb of God crossing the brook of blood stained red by the blood of thousands of lesser sacrifices.  The Lamb of God who came to offer the once-for-all redemptive sacrifice of Himself crosses the barrier of sacrificial blood on His way to the cross.

Now we approach the Gethsamene.

² Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. ³ So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons.

Like the collision of two storm fronts forming a perfect storm, Christ moves toward His great work and Judas toward his great evil.  The two collide in the garden.  “Judas,” John tells us, “also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples.”  It was a familiar place, a place where Judas had previously communed and fellowshipped with Jesus.

Had they laughed together in this garden?  Had they prayed together?  Did they discuss the ways of the Lord in this garden?

Likely they had done all of these things.  But not now.  Now the earlier theater of their friendship is perverted into the present theater of a hellish crime.

Judas comes to meet Jesus, but he does not come alone.  In fact, Judas brings with him representatives of the two great forces that will conspire to kill the Lord Jesus:  the religious establishment and the state (“a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and Pharisees”).  Judas comes to betray the Lord Jesus.

It is hard to fathom how utterly wicked this act of betrayal is.  In Matthew 26:24, Jesus said, “The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

Indeed, it would have been better for Judas had he never been born.  His act of betrayal has gone down as the most despicable and cowardly act in all of human history.  He betrays his friend and he does so with a kiss.

In Michael Card’s song “Why?” he asks a question about Judas’ betrayal and then answers it:

Why did it have to be a friend who chose to betray the Lord?

and why did he use a kiss to show them, that’s not what a kiss is for?

Only a friend can betray a friend, a stranger has nothing to gain.

and only a friend comes close enough to ever cause so much pain.

Jesus went into Gethsemane and was betrayed by Judas.  Judas came to Jesus like a serpent.  In fact, the ancient serpent was intimately involved in Judas’ actions.  In John 13:27, John tells us that “Satan entered into” Judas.

It is not the first time the serpent had met his target in a garden.  In Eden, the ancient serpent deceived Adam and Eve.  In Eden, he led our first parents into sin and ruin.  They fell, and we fell with them.

Gethsemane becomes Eden all over again, alike in some ways but thankfully different in so many other ways. But here is a similarity:  the serpent works mischief once again.  In Eden, he deceives.  In Gethsemane, he betrays.

Dear church, please heed me:  the serpent does not and has not changed.  The ancient serpent still seeks to meet us in the garden and do us mischief.  Sometimes he is direct in his assault.  At other times, he comes to us in the guise of a friend.  But the devil still does what the devil has always done:  he deceives and betrays.

II. In Eden, a man sins and hides.  In Gethsemane, a man is obedient and reveals Himself openly. (v.4-9)

In Eden, the serpent leads a man into sin.  In Gethsemane, the serpent attacks a man who never sinned.  As a result, in Eden, a man sins and hides.  In Gethsemane, a man is obedient and reveals Himself openly.  Something is hidden in Eden.  Something is revealed in Gethsemane.

Notice Jesus’ deliberate resolve to advance, to reveal Himself, to proclaim His person and His presence:

⁴ Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” ⁵ They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. ⁶ When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. ⁷ So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” ⁸ Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” ⁹ This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.”

Behold the courage and resolve of the Son of God:

• Jesus comes forward on His own.
• Jesus addresses the crowd before they address Him.
• Jesus reveals Himself immediately:  “I am he.”
• Jesus repeats the question after they fall to the ground.
• Jesus reveals Himself yet again:  “I told you that I am he.”
• Jesus moves to protect His disciples:  “So, if you seek me, let these men go.”
  

His mind is made up.  His resolve has been steeled.  He is ready.  He marches into the face of death.  He has struggled and He has wept but now He comes.  What unbelievable courage!

Last night I read to Roni and Hannah Alfred Lord Tennyson’s epic 1854 poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade.”  We were watching the movie “The Blind Side” and there’s a scene where they discuss “The Charge of the Light Brigade.”  So, of course, I looked it up and read it!  (Pray for your pastor’s wife and child!  Ha!)  Do you remember this poem?  Many of you know it well.  In it, Tennyson hails and celebrates the raw courage of the British calvary in Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War.  Do you remember?

Half a league half a league,

Half a league onward,

All in the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred:

‘Forward, the Light Brigade!

Charge for the guns’ he said:

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

‘Forward, the Light Brigade!’

Was there a man dismay’d ?

Not tho’ the soldier knew

Some one had blunder’d:

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do & die,

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon in front of them

Volley’d & thunder’d;

Storm’d at with shot and shell,

Boldly they rode and well,

Into the jaws of Death,

Into the mouth of Hell

Rode the six hundred.

Flash’d all their sabres bare,

Flash’d as they turn’d in air

Sabring the gunners there,

Charging an army while

All the world wonder’d:

Plunged in the battery-smoke

Right thro’ the line they broke;

Cossack & Russian

Reel’d from the sabre-stroke,

Shatter’d & sunder’d.

Then they rode back, but not

Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon behind them

Volley’d and thunder’d;

Storm’d at with shot and shell,

While horse & hero fell,

They that had fought so well

Came thro’ the jaws of Death,

Back from the mouth of Hell,

All that was left of them,

Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?

O the wild charge they made!

All the world wonder’d.

Honour the charge they made!

Honour the Light Brigade,

Noble six hundred!

Ah, yes!  We love undaunted courage!  We love resolve in the face of death!  We write poems and songs about courage like this.

But does any great act of bravery even compare to Jesus’ charging into the garden, knowing what He will face?  I think not!  He charges into “the jaws of death,” into “the mouth of Hell,” and He does so knowing exactly what is about to happen.  The men who charged with the Light Brigade knew that they may face death in their charge. It was a noble and brave task to take up.  But Jesus knew that He would face the cross in His charge, and the world has never seen anything like it.

The sin in Eden led to a concealment and to hiding.

The obedience in Gethsemane led to a radical uncovering and revelation of the Champion who had come to conquer through obedience.

III. In Eden, the shedding of blood is accepted by God. In Gethsemane, the shedding of blood is rejected by God. (v.10-11)

Jesus reveals Himself in power.  The hostile crowd, once they had recovered, moved forward to seize Jesus. When they did so, Peter reacted in the way he deemed best and bloodshed resulted.

¹⁰ Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) ¹¹ So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

It is interesting, that little parenthetical statement:  “The servant’s name was Malchus.”  Does that suggest that this man came to accept and embrace Christ and His way?  Perhaps, for otherwise we wonder why they would even had taken note of his name.

Regardless, Peter strikes Malchus, cutting off his ear.  Blood is shed in the garden, but Jesus rejects this blood: “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

This is not the first time that blood has been shed in a garden.  In Eden, after our first parents fell in sin, blood was shed in the garden.  In Genesis 3:21, we read, “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”

The Lord killed an animal and covered the bodies of Adam and Eve in its skin.  This was the first “sacrifice” of scripture and was a type of the sacrificial system to come.  It linked the shedding of blood with the covering of sin, which is an idea central to the cross of Christ.

In Eden, the shedding of blood was necessary to reveal the nature of the fall of man and to establish the beginnings of the system of sacrifice that would reign from Eden to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

In Eden, the blood was necessary.  But in Gethsemane, Peter’s shedding of blood was deemed inappropriate and illegitimate.  Why?  Three reasons:  (1) because Jesus had embraced the cross and Peter was seeking to thwart the cross by his actions, (2) because human violence is not how the Kingdom of God is to advance in the world and (3) because the only blood that the world needed was the blood of the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus, shed on the cross.

Here is a contrast between the gardens:  the blood of Eden that was necessary and looked forward to the cross and the blood of Gethsemane that was unnecessary and was seeking to stop Christ’s progress to the cross.

Blood would be shed again, the blood of Christ on the cross, and it would put an end to the entire system of sacrifices that preceded it.  As the writer of Hebrews put it in Hebrews 10:

¹¹ And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. ¹⁴ For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Let us thank God that Jesus rejected the bloodshed wrought at the hands of Peter.  We are not called to lop off ears. We are not called to advance the Kingdom with the sword.  Such is not the way of Jesus.  We are called instead to come to the cross and embrace the blood that was shed once-for-all for us all.

IV. In Eden, a man approaches what God has forbidden, takes it and brings death to the human race.  In Gethsemane, a man approaches what God has called Him to, takes it and brings life to the human race. (v.12-14)

So the arrest is made, and the series of events leading to the cross come now with greater speed.

¹² So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. ¹³ First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. ¹⁴ It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people.

Here we see the greatest contrast between the events that transpired in Eden and the events that transpired in Gethsemane.  In Eden, a man approaches what God has forbidden, takes it and brings death to the human race. In Gethsemane, a man approaches what God has called Him to, takes it and brings life to the human race.

There is no more classic or powerful expression of this truth than that found in Paul’s words in Romans 5:

¹² Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— ¹³ for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. ¹⁴ Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. ¹⁶ And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. ¹⁷ For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.¹⁸ Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. ¹⁹ For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. ²⁰ Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Adam brings sin.  The second Adam brings forgiveness.

Adam brings death.  The second Adam brings life.

Adam takes what he thinks will be sweet and it turns bitter.  The second Adam embraces what He knows will be bitter, and sweet waters of forgiveness flow forth.

Adam sins and hides.  The second Adam is obedient and comes into the open.

Adam goes to a tree and sins and is cursed.  The second Adam goes to a tree and becomes a curse for us to set us free.

We have lived under the curse of Adam.  Now we can live in the freedom of the second Adam.

We have lived under the shadow of the tree that kills.  We now live in the shadow of the tree where our salvation was won.

In Calvin Miller’s Divine Symphony, Miller writes:

Adam’s ghost walked through

Hiroshima’s ruins

Giving apples to the dying,

Begging their forgiveness.[2]

That is well said.  We may trace all of the misery and pain and heartbreak of the human race to Adam.  But it is not that simple.  It is not as if the curse of Adam is a curse I have resisted.  No, we may trace it all to our own rebellion, our own sin.  I am cursed because I have eaten and I have rebelled.  I am Adam!

But then the second Adam, Jesus, comes back to the garden and sets things right.  He is obedient where I was disobedient.  He says “Yes!” where I have said “No!”  He is the champion where I was the coward.

Oh thank God for King Jesus, who walks with head held high into the mouth of Hell and slays the serpent through a radical act of life-giving obedience!  Oh thank God that we have been set free!

Have you embraced the Jesus of Gethsemane, or are you still cursed in the Adam of Eden?

Come to Jesus!  Come to Jesus and live!

John 17:1-26

¹ When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, ² since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴ I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. ⁶  “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. ⁸ For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹ I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰ All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. ¹¹ And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³ But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. ²⁰ “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹ that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, ²³ I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. ²⁴ Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

If you knew that you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do?  Would you spend your remaining moments with your family?  Would you call some old friends and reminisce?  Would you go out for a good meal and some good laughs?  Would you sit and cry?  What would you do?

Of course, all of that is merely theoretical for you and me.  We do not know when our last night will be. In truth, most of us in here probably will not know that our last night is our last night when it falls upon us.

Jesus knew when His last night was.  He knew it was coming and now, in this morning’s text, He knew it had arrived.  He knew, in point of fact, that He had come for just such events as the next morning would bring.  This was Jesus’ last night.  Later tonight, Judas will meet Him with the guards and He will be arrested.  Jesus stands now in the very shadow of the cross.  Everything has been leading up to this.

That is significant to know because, knowing it, the final events of this last night take on even more poignancy.  What we observe in John 17 constitutes Jesus’ answer to the question, “If you knew that you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do?”

Would you like to know what Jesus did?  He prayed.  He prayed a prayer that has become renowned throughout history for its beauty, its passion, its theological profundity and the depths of love we find therein.  Oh, it may not be Jesus’ most famous prayer.  In fact, I suspect that more people know the Lord’s Prayer than the High Priestly Prayer (as Jesus’ prayer in John 17 has come to be known).  But the High Priestly Prayer is a renowned and significant prayer indeed!

Philip Melancthon, the reformer and friend of Martin Luther, said that “no voice which has ever been heard, either in heaven or in earth, [is] more exalted, more holy, more fruitful [or] more sublime than the prayer offered up by the Son of God Himself.”  R. Kent Hughes has passed on the following evidence of the great esteem this prayer has enjoyed throughout the ages:

“This chapter was read to the Scottish reformer John Knox every day during his final illness and in his final moments…Oliver Cromwell’s chaplain, Thomas Manton, preached forty-five sermons on it.  More recently, Marcus Rainsford, an Irish preacher, wrote expositions that amount to more than 500 pages.”[1]

It is, indeed, a justly famous prayer.  Again, it is likely not so famous as the Lord’s Prayer.  You will never hear a football team, for instance, quote John 17 before a big game.  But here let me pause and offer an observation.  The Lord’s Prayer and the High Priestly Prayer:  is it possible that there is a connection? After all, Jesus taught His disciples the Lord’s Prayer when they asked Him to show them how to pray. Would we not expect, then, for the prayers of Jesus in general to have a connection to the model prayer He offered His disciples, to contain in themselves the same principles of prayer that He taught?  As a matter of fact, I want to suggest this morning that there is an amazing and profound connection between these two prayers.

In his wonderful and significant book, The Historical Reliability of John’s Gospel, New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg has demonstrated this connection.  “One of the most intriguing observations,” he writes about this prayer, “is how all the petitions in Matthew’s account of the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13) find linguistic or conceptual parallels in this chapter, and with only one exception occur in the identical sequence.”[2]

I believe Blomberg is correct.  In fact, I believe it is appropriate and right to approach the High Priestly Prayer with the Lord’s Prayer in our minds and hearts.  In doing this, we not only get the great privilege of seeing our Lord Jesus practice what He preached concerning prayer, we also get to see the further and deeper meanings of the model statements of the Lord’s Prayer as He fleshes them out in His High Priestly Prayer here on the eve of His crucifixion.

On His last night with His disciples, Jesus put His focus on His Father.  He prayed.  As He did so, He deepened the elements of that earlier prayer He had taught His disciples, and all of us, to pray.  As such, let us too set our minds on the Father and consider what this great prayer says about the Lord God.

I.  Our God, the Heavenly Father 

In the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6, Jesus taught His disciples to prayer, “Our Father in Heaven” (9a).  The two elements there are crucial:  God is “Father” and God is “in Heaven.” As Jesus begins His High Priestly Prayer in John 17, we read:

¹ When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father…”

Here, too, we see the two crucial elements:  God is “Father” and God is “in Heaven.”  Jesus is demonstrating the principles of prayer that He taught His disciples.  Here on the very eve of the cross, these two elements are crucial:  God is “Father” and God is “in Heaven.”

That God is Father will strengthen and sustain Jesus through the horrible trial He is about to undergo. Throughout the ordeal of the cross, Jesus will cling tenaciously to this grand truth:  that that which He is undergoing is not the cruel or arbitrary happenstances of an indifferent deity or the vicious and wanton cruelties of a masochistic God.  No, that which He is undergoing is bound up in the love of His Father for both Him and His fallen creation.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…” (John 3:16).  That God is Father means that Jesus does not go to the cross for “a god” or even for “God”abstractly understood.  No, He goes to the cross for God, His Father.

And He is the Father “in Heaven.”  This must not be understood as – and, indeed, Jesus did not intend this to be – an allusion to a localized and bound deity.  God is not stuck in Heaven, nor does He sit enthroned to keep Him from His creation.  Jesus, of course, knew well and stood in agreement with the psalmist’s great sentiments from Psalm 139:

⁷ Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?

⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.

¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”

¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

Yes, Jesus, more than anybody, knew and treasured the grand reality of the omnipresence, the “every-where-ness,” of God.  Even so, God is the Father “in Heaven.”  This means two things: (1) that God is enthroned in sovereign power above the cosmos and (2) that while God is omnipresent there is a chasm between the holiness of God and the fallenness of lost creation.  It is a beautiful image:  God is “in Heaven,” but God has now come to earth.  God the Son stands on the crust of the earth acknowledging the transcendent power, might and holiness of God the Father.

In Christ, God has now drawn near.  Jesus is Immanuel, “God with us.”  Even so, we still recognize in our prayers that God is “Father” and God is “in Heaven.”  God loves us and is not indifferent to us, yet God is perfectly holy and sovereign and transcendent.

Have these two great realities gripped your life:  that God is “Father” and that God is “in Heaven?”  If you do not know the Lord God personally, if you have not accepted Jesus, you will not know God as Father. And if you do not know God as Father, you will not appreciate His sovereign power and rule over all of creation.

II.  Our God, the Sacred Name

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus prays, “hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9b).  We find this echoed in the latter half of John 17:1, when Jesus prays, “glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You” (1b).

To “hallow” is to “glorify.”  Last year at the Southern Baptist Convention, John Piper preached an entire message on the first phrase of the Lord’s prayer:  “hallowed be Your name.”  He made the very interesting observation that this phrase is, in fact, a command.  It does not mean, “let your name be hallowed.”  Rather, it has the same grammatical and linguistic form as Peter’s response to the crowd in Acts 2 when they asked, “What must we do to be saved.”  He responded, “Repent and be baptized…” (Acts 2:38).

That is the manner in which Jesus says, “hallowed be Your name.”  There, He means, “Father, hallow, glorify, magnify, make great Your name!  Do it Father!  Make it so!”  It is a beautiful expression of the divine will through God the Son that the Father’s name be hallowed in and through all creation.  We find the same heartbeat in John 17:1:  “glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You.”

Here is one of the ways in which the High Priestly Prayer further fleshes out the Lord’s Prayer.  We know now, through Luke 17:1 that what Jesus meant in Matthew 6:9b was this:  “Our Father in Heaven, hallow Your name.  Hallow it through Me.  Hallow it through what I am about to do on the cross.  Make Your name great as My name becomes cursed on the cross.  Make Your name pure and glorious as My name is laden with the sins of the world.  Make Your name beautiful through my become marred and stained with sin, death and hell on the cross.  Oh God, glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You.  My path to glory is a cross, but then, beyond, the empty tomb.  You will glorify Me in the resurrection, and I will glorify You through what I am about to accomplish to redeem a people.”

III.  Our God, the King of the Kingdom

The glory that the Son will bring the Father will be through His radical obedience on the cross and, through it, the winning of inhabitants to the Kingdom of God.  The glory that the Father will give the Son will be the giving of the Kingdom to Him.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus prays next, “Your Kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10a).  After the hallowing of the Father’s name, Jesus speaks of the Kingdom.  The parallel passage in the High Priestly Prayer is found in verses 2 and 3:

² since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

This is very interesting.  Jesus does not use the word “Kingdom” in the High Priestly Prayer, but He alludes to it strongly in two ways.  First He uses the word “authority.”  Specifically, Jesus acknowledges before the Father that He has granted the Son “authority over all flesh.”  Furthermore, the Father has given the Son the authority “to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.”

Authority alludes to the Kingdom because only the King has the authority to offer entry into the Kingdom.

Furthermore, in the gospel of John, “eternal life” is used almost synonymously with “Kingdom.”  It is very interesting.  The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) speak of the Kingdom a great deal but of eternal life much less.  For instance, Matthew’s gospel has 7 references to eternal life but 55 references to the Kingdom.  Mark has 4 references to eternal life but 20 references to the Kingdom.  Luke has 5 references to eternal life but 46 references to the Kingdom.  On the other hand, John’s gospel has 36 references to eternal life but only 5 references to the Kingdom.[3]

It appears, when you compare the gospel of John to the other gospels, that what Matthew, Mark and Luke mean by “Kingdom” is roughly equivalent to what John’s gospel means by “eternal life.”  In other words, the two phrases are essentially describing the same reality in two different ways.  Eternal life is life in the Kingdom of God.  We are looking at two different ways of saying the same thing.

It is not surprising, then, that the phrase, “Your Kingdom come,” from the Lord’s Prayer, would parallel these words in the High Priestly Prayer:

² since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

The Kingdom of God is founded on the authority of the King whose Kingdom it is.  That authority extends to the issue of admittance into the Kingdom.  The King has the right to grant entry into His Kingdom.  And how is entry granted into the Kingdom?  It is granted through Christ to all of those who come to Him and receive eternal life.

³ And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Thy Kingdom come, oh God!  Let your Kingdom come.  Let it come through the cross and resurrection of the King who lays down His life to grant entry into the Kingdom.  Let the Kingdom come through born again hearts, hearts that have been granted eternal life through cleansing in the blood of the Lamb!

IV.  Our God, He Who Wills on Earth and Heaven

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus next prays, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:10b). He speaks there of two “locales” or realities:  earth and Heaven.  And what Jesus prays for is the culmination of the Father’s will on earth just as the Father’s will is perfectly realized in Heaven.

In verses 4 and 5 of John 17, we find the exact same framework of dual realities (earth and Heaven) with further explanation of how God’s will is realized in both:

^“I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”

Do you see?

The Lord’s Prayer:                 “Your will be done, on earth…”

The High Priestly Prayer:       “I glorified you on earth…”

The Lord’s Prayer:                 “as it is in Heaven”

The High Priestly Prayer:       “And now, Father, glorify me in your                                                      own presence”

How, then, is God’s will fulfilled on the earth as it is in Heaven?  In two ways.  First, Jesus says, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.”  God’s will is accomplished on earth, then, definitively through the presence of the Son and the Son’s obedience, even to death on a cross.  Jesus lived out God’s perfect will on earth.

“And now, Father,” Jesus continues, “glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”  So the will of God is “synced up,” as it were, between Heaven and earth both in Jesus’ perfect fulfillment of the Father’s will on earth and in Jesus’ coming glorification in Heaven.

Jesus lived God’s will on earth through His obedience.

Jesus lives the Father’s will in Heaven as He is enthroned in glory.

“Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”

“On earth,” Jesus seems to say, “because I came to the earth and lived Your will on the earth.  In Heaven, because I will ascend to Your right hand after I accomplish Your perfect will here on the earth. Through me, Your will will be the same on earth as in Heaven.  The earth was fallen, corrupt, lost and decaying.  But I came to it and lived Your will in the midst of the decay.  In Heaven, Your will is perfect and sublime and untainted, but it will be completed when the Son takes His place at Your right hand.”

V.  Our God, the Provider

“Give us this day our daily bread,” Jesus prays next (Matthew 6:11).  In the Lord’s Prayer, then, He moves to a prayer of provision.  By praying for “daily bread” He is praying that the Lord God might give His disciples all that they need, that He might sustain and nourish them.

It is not surprising, then, that in the next long section of the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus moves to prayers of provisions and sustenance for His disciples.  Listen to verses 6-16:

⁶  “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. ⁸ For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹ I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰ All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. ¹¹ And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³ But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

See the care and concern of Jesus for His followers!  Consider how these requests offer further commentary on “daily bread.”  In other words, when you listen to this part of the prayer, it is important to consider the “daily bread” for which Jesus prays.  Specifically, He says that He has already provided, or asks that God will provide, the following:

• God’s name:  “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world” (6a,25-26)

• Everything that the Father has given the Son:  “Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.” (7)

• The words:  “I have given them the words that you gave me” (8,14a)

• Unity:  “that they may be one, even as we are one” (11b, 20-23)

• Security:  “I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost…” (12b)

• Joy:  “that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves (13b)

• Protection:  “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” (15)

Observe the “daily bread” we need and the “daily bread” God provides for us in Christ.  He gives us His name.  He gives us all that the Father has given Him.  He gives us “the words” and “the Word.”  He gives us unity, security, joy and protection from the devil.

May we learn to feed upon, be nourished by and grow in the bread that Christ gives us and the sustenance He provides for us!

VI.  Our God, Mighty to Save us From Sin

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus next prays, “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).  The parallel passage in the High Priestly Prayer can be found in John 17:17-19

¹⁷ Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

We see two crucial elements in v.17-19 that parallel the idea of forgiveness of sin:  sanctification and consecration.  Both of these elements, at heart, deal with the idea of separating the people of God from sin.  Sanctification refers to our growth in Christ and our growth in holiness.  It refers to our increased and increasing conformity to the image of Christ.  Consecration refers to setting something (or, in this case, someone) apart as a holy thing designed for a holy purpose.

The Lord’s Prayer:                 “forgive”

The High Priestly Prayer:       “sanctify…consecrate”

When we view the High Priestly Prayer as a further commentary on the Lord’s Prayer, it helps us understand just what is entailed in the word “forgiveness.”  We learn that forgiveness is not simply a prayer or even simply a declaration.  Rather, it is a declaration that compels us into a new life, one of sanctification and consecration.  Our holiness is utterly dependent on Christ’s own holiness:  “And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in the truth” (19).

Is this how you view forgiveness, or have you been prone to view it as essentially a “Get Out of Jail Free” card when you mess up?  Do you see forgiveness as an invitation to a life of sanctified consecration, or do you view forgiveness as simply a new opportunity to do as you will knowing that you can avoid punishment later?

I can assure you that the latter idea has no grounding in the New Testament.  But the former idea (forgiveness as an invitation to a life of sanctified consecration) can radically alter how we understand God, understand the person and work of Christ and understand what we have been called to do and be as believers.

VII.  Our God, the Sustainer and Protector

Next, Jesus teaches His disciples to pray this in the Lord’s Prayer:  “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13a).  Here we have one of the most explicit parallels between the two prayers.  For Jesus prays in the High Priestly Prayer, “but that you keep them from the evil one” (15).

The Lord’s Prayer:                 “lead us not into temptation but deliver                                                      us from evil”

The High Priestly Prayer:       “keep them from the evil one”

How beautiful!  How comforting!  How wonderfully caring of our Savior!  He prays that we will be protected from the devil and his evil designs.  Jesus asks the Father to “deliver us from evil,” to “keep us from the evil one.”

I love that wonderful stanza in Luther’s great hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” that speaks of the victory Jesus has given us over the devil:

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:

The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;

His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,

One little word shall fell him.

Do you not thrill to hear that last line:  “One little word shall fell him”?  I do!  What is that “one little word” that defeats the devil?  It is “Jesus.”  We claim victory over the devil in the name of Jesus, for King Jesus has prayed that we would have such a victory!

VIII.  Our God, Wielder of Power and Glory

Finally, the Lord’s Prayer concludes with, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:13b, KJV).  Watch this:

²⁴ Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Ah!  Did you see that

The Lord’s Prayer:                 “For thine is the kingdom, and the

power, and the

glory, forever.  Amen.””

The High Priestly Prayer:       “to see my glory that you have given me                                                 because you loved me before the                                                             foundation of the world”

What is the Kingdom that is the Father’s?  It is the Kingdom populated by all “whom you have given me” (24a).

What is the glory that is the Father’s?  It is the glory we see in Christ!

The glory of God is not some nebulous, vague idea.  It is the amplification of the attributes of the Father before the eyes of men in the obedience of Christ on the cross and the power of God in the empty tomb.

The Lord Jesus prays, “Let them see my glory!”  Then He goes to a cross and dies.  How bewildering! But on the third day He rises again!  The disciples did indeed see the glory of the Son, as do all who call on His name for salvation.

Behold the praying Son of God!

Oh, church!  I have benefited greatly from the prayers of friends.  You have too.  I covet the prayers of you all, just as you covet the prayers of others.  I am encouraged and strengthened when a brother or sister in Christ says to me, “I want you to know that I am praying for you.”  That means more to me than I can express in words.

But to hear Jesus…my Jesus…our Jesus…our Savior…our Lord and God…praying for me…for me!  There is nothing that can compare.

Here in the very shadow of the cruel cross that looms before Him, Jesus prays for you.

Here on the eve of His betrayal, His wrongful conviction, His scourging and His pain, Jesus prays for you.

Here, mere moments before He will be seized by cruel and ungodly hands, Jesus prays for you.

I ask you:  has the world ever seen anything like this Jesus?

He prays for us!

He prays forgiveness for us.

He prays a Kingdom for us.

He prays the name of God over us.

He prays the Word over us.

He prays daily bread over us.

He prays protection over us.

He prays the love of God over us.

He prays holiness over us.

He prays distance from sin over us.

He prays salvation over us.

Behold this Jesus…and marvel, and wonder, and be amazed, and believe!

Come to the Jesus who prays for you, and trust in Him.

John 16:16-33

¹⁶  “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” ¹⁷ So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?”¹⁸ So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” ¹⁹ Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.²¹ When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. ²² So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. ²³ In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. ²⁵ “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; ²⁷ for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” ²⁹ His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! ³⁰ Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.”³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³² Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. ³³ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Emily Bronte only wrote one novel in her lifetime:  Wuthering Heights.  I’ve been intrigued by Emily and her sisters ever since reading Wuthering Heights and her sister Charlotte’s novel Jane Eyre some years back.  It was an intriguing, odd and fascinating family.  Emily, her two sisters and her brother were all the children of a pastor.  They lived a fairly bleak but not unhappy life.  Emily died in the mid-19^th century, but not before writing her fascinating novel and also a number of poems.  As a matter of fact, she wrote her poetry in secret and, when her sister Charlotte found the poems and demanded that she publish them, Emily was initially very angry at her snooping sister.  In time, however, Emily would relent and her poems would be published.

One of Emily’s poems is entitled, “A Little While, A Little While.”  It is about the joy of going on vacation and the privilege of getting away from the burdens of life for a little while.  The poem begins with Emily recognizing that, for a moment, she has escaped the difficulties of life:

A LITTLE while, a little while,

The weary task is put away,

And I can sing and I can smile,

Alike, while I have holiday.

Where wilt thou go, my harassed heart–

What thought, what scene invites thee now

What spot, or near or far apart,

Has rest for thee, my weary brow?

She then proceeds to talk about where she has gone on vacation.  She describes the place she has gone and, in general, rejoices that she has escaped the difficulties of life for a little while.  But, alas, it is only for a little while.  The poem concludes with these words:

Even as I stood with raptured eye,

Absorbed in bliss so deep and dear,

My hour of rest had fleeted by,

And back came labour, bondage, care.

I understand her sentiments perfectly.  Do you?  I suspect most of you do.  It seems like much of life involves navigating the various challenges and difficulties and cares that present themselves to us on a day-to-day base.  Sometimes life can feel like a struggle punctuated by “the little whiles” here and there that we manage to steal from the grind and in which we exult.  And, regrettably, like Emily Bronte says, our hour of rest goes fleeting by and back comes labor, bondage, care.

A little while.  It seems sometimes like joy lasts just for a little while.

Emily Bronte knew this and she experienced the fleeting joys of “the little whiles.”  But I cannot help but wonder if she might have been up to something more with her poem.  She was the daughter of a preacher, after all, and had almost certainly heard her father preacher from the gospel of John.  Had she heard her father preach from the latter half of John 16?  I wonder.  I wonder because in John 16, Jesus speaks, enigmatically and provocatively to His wondering disciples, of two “little whiles.”  Now, I do not know that Emily had the words of Jesus in mind.  If she did, she was possibly turning around in a playful manner the essence of Jesus’ teaching on “a little while.”  For whereas Emily Bronte saw joy as “the little while” in a sea of worries and caries, Jesus says that the troubles we face are ultimately “the little while” in a sea of divine joy.

Jesus spoke of “the little while” to prepare His disciples, once again, for what they were about to witness in the final events of Jesus’ earthly incarnation.  But I believe He also did so to offer us a context for understanding “the little whiles” in which we find ourselves today.  In other words, He spoke thus to comfort His people as they travel the Christian journey.  As such, it is important that we listen closely to His message today.

I.  The Christian Life is One of Momentary Sorrow Eclipsed By Eternal Joy (v.16-22)

He begins with a puzzling and almost riddled statement:

¹⁶  “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”

The reaction of the disciples is mildly humorous but also, frankly, comforting to us today.

¹⁷ So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.”

This is mildly humorous because we can imagine them whispering their confusion even as they try to keep up appearances.  After all, they only grumble “to one another.”  And the last sentence – “We do not know what he is talking about.” – is disarming in its honesty.

But it is also comforting, is it not?  After all, have we not, at times, whispered the same to ourselves and to one another?  Have we not struggled at times to understand what the Lord Jesus is trying to tell us? Take heart when you struggle to understand the words of Jesus.  You are in good company.

Of course, they may whisper this to one another, but the Lord Jesus knows perfectly well what is being said.

¹⁹ Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. ²¹ When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. ²² So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

Jesus acknowledges their confusion and offers a further explanation of “the little whiles” about which He has spoken.  He does this by adding a new dimension to the two “little whiles” He has mentioned.

The two “little whiles” are sequential and chronological:  “A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me.”  So we have two “little whiles,” the first following the second.

In Jesus’ further explanation, however, He links sadness and pain with the first “little while” and joy and gladness with the second “little while.”  Let us consider the attributes He gives to both:

The First “Little While”

• “you will not seem me” (v.19b)
• “you will weep and lament” (v.20a)
• “you will sorrow” (v.20b)
• likened to a woman in labor and pain (v.21a)
• “you have sorrow now” (v.22a)
  

The Second “Little While”

• “you will see me” (v.19c)
• “your sorrow will turn to joy” (v.20b)
• likened to a new mother who “no longer remembers the anguish” because of her “joy” (v.21b)
• “I will see you again” (v.22b)
• “your hearts will rejoice, and nobody will take your joy from you” (v.22c)
  

So Jesus speaks of two “little whiles” to His disciples, the first of which is marked by pain and the second of which is marked by joy.  The dominant “little while” is the second.  It will overcome and eclipse the first.  That is, the joy will overcome the pain.  The first is one of momentary sorrow.  The second is one of eternal joy.  Whatever these “little whiles” are, this is undoubtedly the nature of each.

I say “whatever these ‘little whiles’ are” because at least one of these, the second, remains disputed to this day.  Most interpreters are in agreement that the first “little while,” the one marked by sorrow and pain and sadness and separation from Jesus, is the crucifixion of Jesus.  I agree completely.  After all, for a number of chapters now Jesus has been repeatedly and through various means preparing the disciples for the coming agonies and horrors of the cross.  Of course, they cannot comprehend what is about to happen until it happens, but Jesus prepares them even so.

So this is the first “little while.”  In a little while the disciples are going to drink the cup of pain and loss and heartbreak and tragedy.  In a little while they will see their Savior and their friend nailed to a cruel cross.  In a little while they will watch Him die a horrible death before a jeering mob after being convicted by a kangaroo court.  In a little while, these men are going to suffer.

But what of the second “little while?”  What is the “little while” that is marked by a restoration of their relationship with Jesus, by joy, by gladness, by a happiness so overwhelming that it drives out their former pain?  Over the years, three schools of thought have sprung up concerning this second “little while.”  They are:

• The second “little while” refers the resurrection of Jesus after the crucifixion.
• The second “little while” refers to Pentecost and the joy of the coming of the Holy Spirit.
• The second “little while” refers to the second coming of Christ.
  

To be sure, good cases can and have been made by good Christians over the years for each of these positions.  We could spend a very long time weighing the pros and cons of each.  In truth, though, I do not think that is necessary.  Regardless of whether you see the second “little while” as the resurrection, as Pentecost or as the second coming, we would all agree that each of these three fulfills in powerful ways that hope and joy and gladness that Jesus said would characterize the second “little while.”  In other words, in a very real way, the principle of the second “little while” rightly refers to all of these gloriously joyful and cataclysmic events:  resurrection, Pentecost and second coming.

Be that as it may, I personally feel most persuaded by the first of these three options.  I believe it is most natural to view this second “little while” as a reference to the resurrection.  The resurrection of Jesus will come just a little while after the horrors of the crucifixion and it will eclipse and obliterate the despair that gripped the disciples just a little while before at the crucifixion of Jesus.

The resurrection was the rising of the morning sun of joy that drove back the black night of the horrors of Calvary.  I agree with A.T. Robertson who defined the first “a little while (mikron)” as “the brief period now till Christ’s death” and “again a little while (palin mikron)” as “the period between the death and the resurrection of Jesus (from Friday afternoon till Sunday morning).”[i]

It is important for us to understand two things when we consider the two “little whiles”:  the particular situation about which Jesus was referring and the principle that emanates from these particles now and into eternity.

Specifically, Jesus is telling the disciples before the events play out that the momentary sorrow of the cross will be eclipsed by the eternal joy of the empty tomb.  In principle, and on this basis, Jesus is telling us all that the Christian life is one of momentary sorrow eclipsed by eternal joy.  What this means is that Jesus speaks to us today about “the little whiles” just as He spoke to His disciples about “the little whiles.”  Because the sorrow of Golgotha gave way to the ecstatic joy of Easter morning, so too we may know that whatever sorrows we are suffering under are but temporary in the face of the eternal joy Christ has purchased for us.

Are you suffering this morning?  It is just for a little while.

Are you in pain this morning?  It is just for a little while.

Are you confused this morning?  It is just for a little while.

Are you in tears this morning?  It is just for a little while.

It is just for a little while because the resurrected Jesus has driven back the darkness with the glorious light of His triumphant life!

We must understand the temporary and transitory nature of “the little whiles” in which we find ourselves. Some of you are here this morning and you are languishing.  All you have is the first “little while,” the “little while” of pain, of sorrow, of doubt, of grief, of fear, of despair, of judgment, of no peace.  Your “little while” has become a “long while.”  In truth, your “little while” has become “all there is.”  This is all there is for you because you have not come to Jesus and accepted Him as Savior and Lord.  You are stuck on the dark side of “the little whiles.”  You stand yet on the far side of the cross and all you see is the sin within you for which Jesus died.

But if you would come to Jesus, if you would dare to embrace the cross that you think condemns you, you would find that the cross is the gateway to eternal life and to a joy that you cannot fathom.  The cross was the road Jesus walked to the empty tomb.  The first “little while” of Good Friday gave way to the second and more glorious “little while” of Easter joy!

Do not stay in the first “little while,” believer!  Christ is risen and the Spirit has come and Christ shall come again!  Let the light of the gospel beat back the darkness of your own pain.  Do not stay in the first little while!

And you need not stay there either, unbeliever.  Come to the crucified and risen again Christ and enter the joy of the second “little while.”  All is not as it seems.  The black night has given way before the rising Son.  The momentary sorrows of this life have been defeated by eternal joy!

II. The Christian Life is One of Ever-Filling Joy Through an Ever-Closer Walk With Jesus (v.23-28)

And this joy, Jesus says, is ever-growing.  The second “little while” will be marked by an ever-closer walk with Jesus culminating in an ever-filling joy from Jesus.

²³ In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

Do you see?  The new life we have through the resurrected Jesus is one in which our wills are increasingly fused.  We take on, in other words, the mind of Christ increasingly as we walk with Him. This does not mean that we become Jesus.  It simply means that the resurrection of Jesus leads us into certain inescapable conclusions concerning His deity, His mediatorial role of intercessor, the need to begin viewing life through His life and the need to call upon the Lord in Jesus’ name.  The result of this deepening relationship will be an ever-increasing joy, a deeper understanding of what was previously mysterious and a greater grasp of just how very much God loves us in Christ.  Listen:

²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. ²⁵ “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; ²⁷ for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

The Christian life, then, is one of ever-filling joy through an ever-closer walk with Jesus.

“Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full!”  We learn to ask because we learn to trust.  We learn to trust because we learn to walk with Jesus.  We learn to walk with Jesus because He lives now and forevermore.

Pain lasts for just a little while, but, in Christ Jesus, the pain of life loses its grip because it has increasingly less and less room in the face of greater and greater joy.  The ever-filling joy of Jesus, poured into us as we receive the Holy Spirit of God and as we learn to walk in His ways, leaves no crevices for the miseries of the first “little while” to hide.

“That your joy may be full!”

That you may know Jesus!

That you may love Jesus!

That you may learn to think with the mind of Jesus!

That you may learn just how much Jesus loves you!

“That your joy may be full!”

That darkness of the first “little while” is retreating even now in the face of the second.  The resurrected Jesus comes carrying a joy that the darkness cannot overcome.  Oh come out of “the little while” in which you are stuck and let Jesus fill you with joy!

III. The Christian Life is One of Temporal Defeats Conquered by an Eternal Love (v.29-33)

What this means is that the Christian life is one of temporal defeats conquered by an eternal love.  In v.29, the disciples speak:

²⁹ His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech!³⁰ Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.”

Let us not judge our brothers, the disciples, for thinking they knew more than they knew.  After all, we would not have grasped the full significance of the enigmatic words of Jesus at this point either.  We, too, would have been, and are, hard of hearing and learning.  But at least they begin to grasp that whatever dark thing of pain Jesus is alluding to, it will not last forever, for Jesus, they realize, “knows all things” and “came from God.”

This is true, but Jesus’ response reveals that they do not understand the battle that lies ahead.  He turns on them, as it were, in order to reinforce the fact that while the second “little while” will carry great joy with it, the first “little while” will indeed carry with it a bitter pain.

³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³² Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. ³³ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

The first “little while,” Jesus reveals, will not just be something that happens to them, it will shame them as well.  For while the disciples will “be scattered” at the crucifixion, they will “leave [Jesus] alone” in His time of greatest trial.  In other words, the first “little while” is not merely a trial, it is also a personal defeat, a personal failing.

The Christian life is one of temporal defeats.  We, like the disciples, are not only victims of the first “little while,” we also contribute to our own shame therein.  Who here today has not known the bitter pain of failing in “the little whiles” of life?  Who here today has not known what it is to look back on your pain and realize that oftentimes we contribute to the darkness of the bleak “little whiles” in which we languish.

“In the world you will have tribulation.”  That is true.  And sometimes we invite it.  And sometimes we even cause it.  And oftentimes we are shamefully weak in the midst of this.

Even so, Jesus does not say this to crush them.  “I have said these things to you,” He says in v.33, “that in me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Two “little whiles”: the first is one of defeat, the second is one of eternal and conquering love.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, dear friends, listen to me:  there are two “little whiles.”

In the first, we weep.  In the second, we laugh for joy.

In the first, we fail.  In the second, we are victorious.

In the first, we are sinners.  In the second, we are saints.

In the first, the Lord is crucified.  In the second, He rises again.

In the first, we are on our own.  In the second, the Spirit has come.

In the first, we wait.  In the second, He comes again.

In the first little while, our hearts give up.  In the second little while, our hearts dare to believe.

In the first, I am a worm.  In the second, I am a new creation.

In the first little while, I am alone with my misery.  In the second, I am forever with my Savior.

Oh come to the Jesus of “the little whiles.”

Oh come to the Lamb of God.

John 16:1-15

 ¹ “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. ² They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. ³ And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. ⁴ But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵ But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰ concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. ¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

When I was in 8^th or 9^th grade, the French teacher in our school invited me to go with her, her husband, and their grandson, who was a few years younger than me, on vacation to Orlando, Florida.  That all sounds unbelievably odd as I say it now, but it happened.  If I recall, the French teacher, who was a friend of my mother’s, asked if I would go on the trip so that their grandson would have somebody to pal around with in Disney and Sea World.  Furthermore, if I recall, I was informed that I would be going on this trip and, not being one to pass up free vacations, I was fine with that.

Now I had been to Disney a number of times but I had never been to Sea World.  Many of you have likely been to Sea World many times, but, to date, this remains the only time I have ever gone to Sea World.

Regardless, I remember it well:  the underwater observation tunnel with the moving conveyor belt, the cool activities, the rides, the water stunts.  Of course, what I remember most of all – and, I suspect, what most people remember most of all when they go to Sea World – is Shamu, the orca, the killer whale.

Man alive, that was amazing!  To sit there and watch this massive black-and-white killer whale do tricks was unbelievable.  If you have been there, you know that the whales splash the audience with water, lay on their backs, wave their huge flippers (or whatever you call those things!) and, in general, show off for the audience.

The biggest thrill of all is watching these beasts interact with their trainers.  I could not (and still cannot) conceive of these men and women diving into this massive water tank and interacting with these gargantuan killer whales!  It was amazing.  A trainer would jump on the back of the whale and ride it around.  Then the trainer would jump into the water and the whale would come up behind him and pick him up and jet him around the tank at full speed.

The coolest thing, though, was when the trainer would dive into the water and Shamu would dive down behind him.  For a moment, they both disappeared under the water.  Then, all of a sudden, Shamu came rocketing straight up out of the water with the trainer on its nose and the whale would catapult this little human being straight up into the air, maybe 30 or 40 feet, then the trainer would come spiraling down into a dive back into the water!

Whew!  That was an awesome sight, and one I won’t likely forget for a very long time.  When you see something like that, you feel a number of things:  exhilaration, amazement, disbelief and, in my case, a certain measure of fear.  The whole time I watched the interaction between that killer whale and the trainer, I kept thinking, “Not me!”

I want to ask you to think about that image for a moment:  a man (small, comparatively insignificant, comparatively weak, comparatively puny) and a whale (huge, comparatively gigantic, comparatively powerful, comparatively awe-inspiring).  The man is submerged in water, momentarily drowned, dwarfed by the surrounding expanse of water.  Then, all of a sudden, this little man is acted upon by an alien and foreign source:  an orca, a killer whale, some wild aquatic behemoth.  The whale goes deeper than the man and comes up underneath him.  When they connect, the man becomes part of the whale.  In doing so, the man receives within himself all of the sheer power, speed, might and awesomeness of the whale. He is propelled upward, like Icharus shooting toward the sun.  He emerges from his watery tomb, buried no more.  He bursts into the light of day, his figure now animated and enlivened by the shocking power of the whale beneath.  Up he comes!  Up, up, up!  And then he’s airborne, propelled into the sky, shot heavenward as if out of a cannon.  He never could have done it on his own.  He never will be able to do it on his own.  For a moment, he flies – 10, 20, 30, maybe 40 feet into the air – then he returns triumphantly to the water!

The whale has an astounding impact on the man.  The whale and the man have an astounding impact on the audience.  We watch in disbelief.  We marvel.  We stand in awe.  Then we cheer!  We applaud!  We celebrate!

Would you like to know what I think about when I think about that whale and that man?  I think about the Holy Spirit.  When I read John 16, for instance, I see a similar picture of a similar motion and phenomenon:  a small human being acted upon by a foreign power, connecting to that power and sharing in His might.  Jesus will depict the Holy Spirit in just this way:  He is powerful, awesome, life-transforming and capable of more than any human being could be capable of on His own.  He is God and carries the authority of God.  And this Holy Spirit comes down – down, down, down – to reach us in our submerged and drowning state.  When we receive the Lord Jesus, repent of our sins and open our hearts to Him, the Holy Spirit connects with us.  He comes, as it were, down from above and up from below.  He catches us.  Then the Spirit connects with us and we form a bond.  In that bond, the power of the Holy Spirit surges through us and He propels us up – up, up, up – until finally we emerge from our watery tomb and shoot up into the air and into the glory of the heights!

Jesus depicts the Holy Spirit like this:  an awesome force operating on a frail but willing man or woman. And, like the crowd watching Shamu at Sea World, Jesus told His disciples that the watching crowd would have a reaction to the Spirit’s work in the world.  The world always reacts to the work of the Spirit. Unlike Sea World, however, Jesus said that most of the world would hate and resent the work of the Spirit.  This is because the Spirit did not come to entertain, to titillate, to exhilarate, to impress.  He came to bear witness to God the Son, Jesus.  And, when He does that, the world reacts to the Spirit just as it did to the Son:  it hates the Spirit and it hates the one through whom the Spirit is working.

What this means, then, is that there is a movement to the Spirit, a kind of grand, cosmic baptism or immersion.  It was the same movement Jesus spoke of in John 12:

²³ And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵ Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Jesus applied this grand movement of immersion and re-surfacing, of death and resurrection prophetically to Himself.  He comes down to be lifted back up.  Jesus’ entire incarnation was an immersion and raising.

The analogy also fits us.  We die to self so that we might rise again.  We are crucified with Christ so we might live.  As Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:11:

¹ The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him

This is the grand motion at the heart of the resurrection:  descension, then ascension.  It was the grand motion of the Lord Jesus.  It is the grand motion of our own salvation.  And we find in John 16 that it is the grand motion of the Spirit as well.  He descends from glory, is buried within the believer, then begins working back upward to the Father.  In doing so, there are three different interactions with three different parties:  the believer, the watching world and the Lord God.

I. The Holy Spirit Keeps Us From Losing Heart and Falling Away (v.1-6)

Let us first consider the Spirit’s effect upon believers in Jesus, followers of the Lord God.

¹ “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. ² They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. ³ And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. ⁴ But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵ But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

The first movement in the great upward motion of the Holy Spirit is His movement in and upon the believer and the believing family of faith.  In keeping with the theme of the coming persecution that the Lord Jesus foretold in the latter half of John 15, He points to the comforting and strengthening ministry of the Holy Spirit.

The early disciples were about to undergo terrible persecution.  They were about to pay a great price for following Jesus.  For instance, John MacArthur has helpfully summarized the persecution that the original disciples faced in this way:

A brief survey of ancient Christian tradition reveals that Peter, Andrew, and James the son of Alphaeus were all crucified; Batholomew was whipped to death and then crucified; James the son of Zebedee was beheaded, as was Paul; Thomas was stabbed with spears; Mark was dragged to death through the streets of Alexandria; and James the half brother of Jesus was stoned by order of the Sanhedrin.  Philip was also stoned to death.  Others, including Matthew, Simon the Zealot, Thaddeus, Timothy, and Stephen, were also killed for their unwavering commitment to the Lord.[i]

Indeed, the disciples did pay a price.  And, as we saw last week, it is a truism that all who seek to follow Jesus will pay a price as well.

One of the crucial ministries of the Holy Spirit is the strength that He offers struggling and suffering believers to endure in the face of trials.  His ministry is a keeping, sustaining, strengthening ministry.  He whispers assurances to us, hope to us and represents the continued presence of the Lord Jesus with us in the most difficult of times.

The Holy Spirit encourages and equips us so that we will not “fall away.”  The fact that Jesus reveals this means that in the Christian life difficulties will sometimes become so great that we will be tempted to abandon the faith.

This reality need not be relegated only to literal, physical persecution or torture and the temptation to recant the faith in the midst of pain.  In our context, it may be the more subtle but equally eroding reality of the pressure of living in a secular and anti-Christian society.  For instance, we must realize how challenging it can be for believers in our country to face the constant and consistence cultural accusation of being backward, of being narrow minded, of being ignorant and non-progressive.  Consider, for instance, the decaying power upon the believer’s resolve of the constant bombardment of television and movies and music in which behaviors and lifestyles that God’s Word reveals to be ungodly and destructive are held up as normative and good.  As the culture in which we live increasingly embraces unbiblical lifestyles as normal and normative, it will increasingly view those who hold to a biblical worldview as intolerant, as ignorant and as outright dangerous.

“Indeed,” Jesus says, “the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.”

In our cultural context this may well refer to those who seek to shut down biblical Christianity in the name of a false god who has been fashioned in the likeness of American secularism and sentimentality.  As the false god of the age is exalted more and more, the God of scripture will increasingly be caste as an evil God and His followers as likewise wicked.

In particular, we need to consider how challenging it can sometimes be for our young people to hold to the faith in the face of the constant secular onslaught to which they are daily subjected.  Do not get me wrong:  I have every reason to think that young Christians are holding to the faith with more passion, in many cases, than their elders, but that simply proves the point that the Holy Spirit is sufficient to the task. Our young people are faced with anti-Christian forces in ways that some of us never have been, but the Holy Spirit is able to strengthen them in the face of this opposition.

Believer, do you know that the Holy Spirit resides within you in order to help you not to fall away?  He is the present voice that whispers in the darkest moments of your life, “Do not give up.  Do not quit.  Do not stop following.  Do not stop believing.  The Lord is with you.  The Lord loves you.  The Lord will see you through.”

II. The Holy Spirit Challenges the World Through the Church (v.7-11)

Like the giant whale coming up beneath the trainer in order to catapult him heavenward, so the Holy Spirit pours His power in and through us to encourage and equip us.  Just as this watery marvel causes the crowd the cheer, so too the watching world reacts to the transforming power of the Spirit.  But here the analogy breaks down.  It breaks down completely.  For while we go to Sea World to see a neat trick that titillates us, the world looks upon the marvelous work of the Holy Spirit with anger and resentment. The world does not applaud the Holy Spirit, though the change the Spirit makes and seeks to make in our lives is no less dramatic than the effect of a giant sea creature upon a small man or woman.  No, the world hates the work of the Spirit for what the work of the Spirit reveals bout the world.

⁷ Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

Let us first note Jesus’ proclamation of the coming of the Spirit in the wake of His own ascension into Heaven as a desirable reality, an optimal situation in fact.  We oftentimes think that it would have been better if we could have lived in the days of Jesus’ incarnation, if we could have walked with Him and fellowshiped with Him in the first century.  Please recognize, however, that Jesus says this is not so.  It is better, “it is to your advantage,” that the Lord ascend to Heaven where He intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father and that the Spirit comes to take up His residence within us.  This is because the Holy Spirit represents a constant, internal, transforming, life-altering reality within the believer’s life.  The Spirit resides within us, bringing all that the disciples saw in the life and teachings of Jesus into our own hearts and minds, altering us forever from the inside out.

Jesus then moves to the effects of the Spirit upon the world and the reaction of the world to the Spirit’s power:

⁸ And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰ concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹ concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

The Holy Spirit moves up, changing the believer and, through the believer, challenging the world.  He does so in three ways:

• He convicts the world concerning sin.
• He convicts the world concerning righteousness.
• He convicts the world concerning judgment.

You will immediately notice the fundamental contrast between the Spirit’s effect on the church and the Spirit’s effect on the world.  He strengthens the church and the church rejoices.  He convicts the world and the world seethes.

As the Spirit draws the believer further and further into conformity with Christ, He necessarily draws the believer further and further away from the predominant world system:  its assumptions, its worldview, its mindset, its behavior, its patterns.  When this happens, the world is convicted concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.  Tragically, the world does not seem to be convicted unto repentance. Rather, it is convicted and shown the truth, but it continues to hate the truth.

This is a vital truth.  It is vital because it reminds us that when the world hates us, it is actually hating the Holy Spirit within us.  When the world feels threatened by us, it is really feeling threatened by the Holy Spirit within us.  The world hates the artwork of the Holy Spirit and the the church is the canvas on which He paints.

The church represents a prophetic challenge to the world as it allows the Holy Spirit to shape it Godward.  The Holy Spirit challenges and convicts the world.

III. The Holy Spirit Brings Glory to the Son by Revealing Divine Truth to the Church (v.12-15)

We have spoken thus far about the Spirit’s effect upon the believer and the world.  In the final movement of the Spirit, we will not speak of His effect, but rather of His revelation and proclamation.  Ultimately, what the Spirit does is bring glory to the Father and the Son.

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide[ii] you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Spirit brings glory to the Father and Son when He declares divine truth to the believer.  The Spirit proclaims glory when the Spirit brings revelation to the life of those who know Jesus.  When the Spirit reveals divine truth to believers, He is revealing the deepest loving intentions of the Father and the Son: to redeem and strengthen a people.

The Holy Spirit brings glory to God as He teaches us and changes us and shapes us into the image of Jesus.  That means that the Spirit brings glory to God not only through what He shows the believer, but also through the life of the believer as it is transformed through this divine revelation.

I have a friend who took on an Associate Pastor position in a large urban church after graduating from seminary.  He worked for a pastor who was fond of clichés and cute quips.  He and I used to laugh at these clichés in a rather self-righteous manner, I must confess.  Truth be told, some of the little sayings really were cringe-inducing even if theologically sound.

For instance, one of these little sayings that his pastor would voice from the pulpit really stands out.  His pastor would say this:  “Church, let’s be an earthly ad for the Heavenly Dad!”

Now, I do not really like that much, though my reasons are probably pretty subjective.  I think it is a bit too cutesy and a bit too trite.  But allow me to stop being a snob for a moment and extol the virtues of this tacky little saying.

“Be an earthly ad for the Heavenly Dad” is not something I would say, but there is a profound truth in it. As the Holy Spirit works within us, changing us and transforming us and conforming us into the image of Christ, we do indeed become an earthly advertisement for the glory and beauty and grandeur of our Heavenly Father.  The movement of the Spirit works upward through the believer, in the face of the watching world, for the glory of God.  This means that we have the distinct and high privilege of getting to say something about God through the way we live.

That fact raises an interesting question:  what kind of ad is your life for the Lord God?  Have you given yourself over to the transformative and changing power of the Spirit?  What does your life say about Jesus and the Father?  Does your life reveal that the Spirit of God has control of who you are and is working His work within and through you?  Or does your life reveal that you are keeping the Holy Spirit at arms length, not allowing Him to move within and out of you?

Let the Spirit have His way.  Do not hinder His great upward motion to the glory of God.

John 15:18-27

John 15:12-17

John 15:1-11

Psalm 139 

John 14:12-31