Some Final Words to the Disciples (John 14–16)
In those final hours before Jesus';s arrest, he preached an incredible sermon (this one just to the disciples) filled with words of comfort, promises, encouragements, and warnings. In this sermon, Jesus told the disciples:
not to be troubled but to trust in him (John 14:1–4)
that they were to have faith in him as the One sent from God (14:5–14)
that they were to continue in obedience to him, with the help of the Holy Spirit (14:15–31)
that they were to remain in him, even though he would be gone soon (15:1–8)
that they were to love one another the same way he loved them (15:9–17)
that the world would hate them (15:18–25)
that he would soon send the Holy Spirit (15:26–16:16)
that their sorrow and grief would one day be turned to joy (16:17–28)
This section of the Gospel of John is filled with incredible instruction and encouragement for the believer today. It encourages the discouraged, comforts the afflicted, instructs those who aren';t sure what to do, and promises that no matter what we go through on this earth, if we remain in Christ we will one day experience joy — all because Jesus remains with us.
Jesus told the disciples that even though he would soon be physically gone, they were to “Remain in me, and I will remain in you” (John 15:4). Jesus wanted the disciples to understand that they had some incredibly difficult work ahead and that the only way they would be able to finish it successfully was to stick close to him. One of the reasons they would need to stick close to Jesus, he taught them, was that they would be going into a world that would hate them — just like it hated Jesus himself — despite the fact that they would be taking with them a positive message of salvation and forgiveness from God.
It is absolutely crucial for a believer to understand that bearing fruit, as Jesus referred to doing positive things for God and for others in his name, can only happen when he or she sticks close to him (John 15:1–4). That theme runs throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament alike.
All of the promises Jesus made in this passage are invaluable to the believer, but it can be argued that the most important of them was his promise to send the Holy Spirit. Jesus went to great lengths to explain to the disciples that the Holy Spirit would remind the world of its need for God';s forgiveness and righteousness and would guide them and remind them daily of the things he had taught them while he was on earth with them.
Study Questions
What specific things can the believer do to ensure that he or she continues to remain in Christ?
Read Acts 2. How does the event in that passage connect with what Jesus told the disciples in this passage?
