Jesus teaches Theology 401

John 14:7-17

Jesus and the Father
-Phillip’s request wasn’t bad in itself. Wanting to know/see the Father is a good desire. The problem was their lack of understanding that the Father was letting Himself be seen in Jesus. Their thinking was “Jesus gives us some idea, but not a complete picture. We want to really see the Father.” Jesus corrects their thinking. They are distinct yet One. To see Jesus is to see the Father, to hear Him is to hear the Father, and to be with Him is to be with the Father.

-Nicene Creed: I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father through Whom all things were made.

-Jesus seems offended by Phillip’s dullness. Phillip had been with Jesus since the beginning, 3 years now. In fact he was the first normal (not a prophet) person to recognize Jesus as the Messiah (1:45). Why was Jesus so offended by this? Because to Jesus His relationship to the Father IS who He is. It would be like if Merry and I went to dinner and I ordered pizza and a coke and she said “Huh, I didn’t know you liked that.” Seriously? That’s my favorite food! I always order that.
-It was shocking to Jesus that after 3 years Phillip hadn’t become aware of the Father in Jesus.
-We have yet another passage where Jesus is speaking of His deity. For them this would have been either revelation or blasphemy. Why is it important that Jesus is God?
-Jesus offers 2 evidences for His oneness with the Father, His words and His works. What do we have as evidence for our relationship with God?

Praying in Jesus’ Name
- Verse 12 is a difficult scripture for many. How could we accomplish “greater” works than Jesus? What could possibly be greater than healing the blind, making the lame walk, raising the dead, walking on water, miraculously multiplying food?
The problem is our assumption that great = bigger. There are 2 possibilities. The first is that by “greater” Jesus means more in number. He was 1 person who performed miracles for 3 years. His followers in just a few years would number in the thousands and be praying for miraculous answers to prayer for their entire lives.
The other possibility is that Jesus meant greater in significance. The miracles He did were obviously amazing. So amazing that crowds followed Him from town to town to see Him do more. So amazing that He had crowds worshiping Him and ready to make Him the King of Israel. But only a few weeks later those crowds were nowhere to be found. There were only a handful of people standing at the foot of the cross. The miracles He did were Great and Big, but they only had a momentary effect on most people. They didn’t transform people’s entire lives.
However, when the disciples went out in Acts and preached forgiveness through the crucified and resurrected Son of God people’s lives were changed forever. Thousands upon thousands were willing to die instead of reject a savior they had never seen because they didn’t just see a miracle, they had been transformed by the gospel.

-Now about praying in Jesus’ name. Prosperity idiots have hijacked this, and other scriptures, to preach that God must do what we tell Him to. He’s controlled by our faith. This shows a great misunderstanding of the language used here. Doing or saying something “in so and so’s name” was a common thing in ancient times. They didn’t have email or phones so important people sent servants with a message. When it was delivered “in so and so’s name” it was like the important person himself was saying it.
But there’s a catch. This concept is much more than just attaching the phrase “In Jesus name” at the end of a prayer. In this culture a name was much more than a way to tell people apart or reference people. Someone’s name is synonymous with his or her character, desires, thoughts and intentions. So if you were to do something in the name a king that didn’t accurately represent the king’s intentions not only would your demand not be authoritative, but you would get in major trouble. The king could say, “Nope, you acted outside of what I would have done so you had no right to use my name there.” Faith is involved in prayer, but God is completely sovereign and does not HAVE to do anything I say. Thankfully He is a gracious God who CHOOSES to respond to the faith and prayers of His people.

-Verse 15. If you love Jesus you will obey His commands. This isn’t a command in itself so much as a statement of fact. This is a statement of cause and effect. This is a more blunt way of saying what Jesus has said many times in parables (i.e. if a branch is connected to the vine it WILL produce fruit, if not it won’t and will be cut off and thrown away). This is not in any way teaching salvation by works. The love relationship comes first and is based on grace through faith. But, genuine faith WILL produce a visible product: obedience. The fruit may be small at first, but will grow over time.

The Holy Spirit
-Jesus will ask the Father and He will send the Holy Spirit (paraclete: companion, one who walks beside); the Spirit of Truth. There are at least 4 practical purposes listed in scripture for the Spirit being sent to the world: Empowerment, comfort, guiding to truth, and convicting of sin.
For the believer the Spirit guides us to truth in all areas. We seek direction in various areas and God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. However, the most important truth the Spirit leads people to is Jesus. Only a few sentences ago Jesus declared “I Am the truth”. The Spirit’s main objective is the draw people to Jesus and reveal the truth about His nature, teachings, and work on the cross.