The Gospel of John: John 14.15-31

Read and meditate on John 14.22-24.
One of the disciples asks a question, but Jesus seems not to pay attention. Or is He? It all depends on what Judas meant by manifest.

                        ²²Judas (not Iscariot) to
Him said, “Lord, tell us how it is that You
will show Yourself to us, but not unto
the world.” ²³Then Jesus answered and said to
him, “Anyone who loves Me will obey
all My commandments.” He went on to say,
“My Father will love him, and We will come
to him, and with him We will make our home.
²⁴But he who does not love Me, does not keep
My words, and you know all the words I speak
are not Mine, but the Father’s, Who has sent
Me”.
 
- John 14.22-24

Reflect
1.  Jesus promised to manifest Himself to those He loves (v. 21). That the disciples don’t quite understand what He was saying is clear from Judas’ question. How could He be manifest to them, but not to the world? Does this help us in thinking about what Jesus means by manifest? Explain. Complete this prayer: Lord, manifest Yourself to me today, so that I might show You to…

2.  Jesus promised that He and the Father would make their home with certain people. Which people? What does it mean for God the Father and Son to make their home with someone? What would you expect to be the effect of this on that person? On the people around that person? Lord, You have come to dwell in me, and I want to make sure that…

3.  Jesus equates loving Him with keeping His Word. How would you counsel a new believer to continue growing in love for Jesus? How should that believer expect love for Jesus to be evident? Teach me Your Word, Lord, more and more each day, and help me thus to…

4.  How is Jesus using the word keep in verses 23 and 24? The Greek word tereo means “to cause a state to continue – to cause to continue, to retain” (Nida & Louw). Restate verses 23 and 24 without using the word keep. Lord, You call me to keep Your Word, and I understand by that…

5.  Following Jesus comes at a price, but pays enormous dividends. Explain. Bring together into one prayer the prayers you wrote for questions 1-4.

Summary
“Consider, dearly beloved, how great this solemnity is that commemorates the coming of God as a guest in our hearts. If some rich and powerful friend were to enter your home, you would quickly clean the entire house for fear something there might offend your friend’s eyes when he entered. Let anyone then who is preparing his inner house for God cleanse away the dirt of his evil deeds.… He does indeed enter the hearts of some but does not make his home there because through repentance they acquire respect for God, but during a time of temptation they forget that they have repented and so return to committing sins as if they had never wept over them at all. The Lord comes into the heart and makes his home in one who truly loves God and observes his commandments, since the love of his divine nature so penetrates him that he does not turn away from it during times of temptation. That person loves truly whose heart does not consent to be overcome by wicked pleasures.” Gregory the Great (540-604 AD)

The goal of our Christian life should be to have God as much at home in us as possible. What does that require of us? What does it portend?

Closing Prayer
The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD
Forever.

Psalm 23

Psalm 23 (The Gift of Love: Though I May Speak with Bravest Fire)
Because the Lord my Shepherd is, I shall not want, for I am His!
He makes me lie in pastures full; I rest in Him by waters still.

My soul He quickens and will bless; He leads in paths of righteousness.
Though I may walk in death’s dark vale, I shall not fear – He will not fail!

The Lord is ever by my side; His rod and staff with me abide.
A table rich for me He spreads; with oil my Lord anoints my head.

Goodness and mercy, full and free, shall ever after follow me,
And in the house of God, my Lord, shall I abide forevermore!

T. M. Moore

Each of us has a Personal Mission Field in which we are called to be disciples and make disciples. Watch this brief video (click here), then download the worksheet and map out your calling to follow Jesus.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.