Final Words in the Upper Room (John 14:25-31)
Jesus is engaged in providing explanations of various doctrines to his disciples. It was obvious at the time that the disciples were not understanding what Jesus was saying to them. We should not be surprised at their failure because nothing would start making sense to them until after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
Imagine if we had to explain our manner of services to the wisest man living in 1800. Here we are, each in your own homes, listening to a sermon preached in another place by me. In order for that wise man to understand what we take for granted he would need to experience crucial inventions before things would make sense.
It was hard for the disciples at that time to grasp and understand the statements that Jesus had made about his activities after he would die and rise again. But they would begin to understand them once he did.
The coming of the Spirit
Jesus reminds them once again that the Holy Spirit has an important contribution to make in them understanding the words of Jesus. In verse 26, we see a reference to the Trinity. The Father will send the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus. This means that the Father will keep his promise to send the Holy Spirit once Jesus is exalted in heaven, which sending occurred on the Day of Pentecost.
What would the Holy Spirit do when he came? The activity highlighted by Jesus is teaching, and he also mentions how the Holy Spirit would bring about his instruction. The Holy Spirit would enable the apostles to recall what Jesus had taught them about his activities and their connection to his people. There is a particular reference here to the unique role and privilege of the apostles. Jesus had taught them what they were to pass on to others. Future disciples would be taught what the apostles were guided to say by the Holy Spirit.
We can see from this description that the Spirit works in the minds of his people, giving to them understanding in the doctrines that are essential. An example of this is given in Acts 2:42 where we are told that the converts on the Day of Pentecost continued in the teaching of the apostles. That is normal Christianity. This is what the Holy Spirit enlightens people about. It is the same set of doctrines for all Christians. It is a gracious provision from the Father through the Son and by the Spirit.
While the disciples did not understand what Jesus meant when he spoke to them in the Upper Room, other disciples later understood the same words and ideas because the Holy Spirit instructed them after Jesus had died and risen and ascended. It is like putting together pieces in a jigsaw and seeing the combined picture.
The peace of Jesus (v. 27)
This statement by Jesus has often been described as his parting legacy. It is to be expected that we should ask what is included in his peace. Obviously, it is very different from the kind of peace found in the world, and it is also a kind of peace that will negate concern and fear.
The words of Jesus indicate that he was experiencing that peace while he was speaking about it. What were the ingredients of his peace? One ingredient was its connection to the divine pact made between the Father, the Son and the Spirit to save sinners. Why would that agreement bring peace? Because it was the greatest policy ever decided. The world would never get peace from thinking about this eternal arrangement, but Jesus did, and so will his followers when they think about what was agreed within the Trinity.
Secondly, part of the peace of Jesus was the evidence of divine grace in the fact that his disciples were with him. It is true that they were not what they should have been. Yet he had said elsewhere about this time together that he had desired it with desire. Peace is connected to where you are and with whom you are. If we are in the wrong place or with the wrong people, peace is affected. Jesus was where he wanted to be and with whom he wanted to be.
A third aspect of the peace of Jesus on that evening was his anticipation of the future. It is obvious from the context that he was thinking about his going to the Father. The road to the Father was going to be a very difficult one, yet Jesus knew that it was a path to the experience of peace.
Fourth, the peace of Jesus included the fact that it would be maintained by what he would provide by going to the cross. This suggestion might seem odd at first, but would Jesus have peace if he had decided not to go to the cross? If he had done so, he would have disobeyed his Father, and such a decision would have been the end of all possible peace anywhere. So while the cross was not a place for the enjoyment of peace, when Jesus paid the penalty of sin and endure divine wrath, he knew that he was going there to bring blessing to his disciples.
Fifth, the peace that Jesus provides is eternal. It is not confined to this world, no matter how much we enjoy of it. Not only will it be eternal, it will also expand as far as his human nature is concerned, and as far as the experiences of it by his people are concerned.
No doubt, there are many other aspects of the peace of Jesus that could be mentioned. Peace is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit, and that fruit was and is and will be seen in perfection in Jesus, and it is the model for his people to admire and appreciate. Their peace is not found within, but from looking to him.
The enemy of Jesus (v. 30)
Jesus refers briefly to the activity of the devil, called here the ruler of this world. This enemy would be very involved in the events of the next twenty-four hours as Jesus was arrested, tried, condemned and executed. Yet his activities were not the main cause of what would take place. Nevertheless, it would have been possible for the disciples to imagine that he was the main instigator. Jesus therefore ensured that they would know that everything that happened to him took place because he was obedient to the Father’ will.
There is an obvious lesson here for us, which is that we are to see the devil for what he is. It has often been said that believers can lapse into two errors with regard to the devil. One is to make him bigger that he is and the other is to make him smaller that he is. When it comes to the cross, Jesus was never the victim of the devil; rather he was always the Victor. The cross was the battlefield where the Seed of the woman defeated comprehensively the serpent who had tempted Adam and Eve into sin. This is the message that the Holy Spirit teaches us and it is also a message that contributes to our sense of peace.
The love of Jesus and our love
Jesus refers to the love of the disciples for him in verses 28 and 29, and his love for the Father in verse 31. When he speaks of their love in a conditional way, Jesus is not suggesting that they did not love him. We know that sometimes a wife can say to her husband, ‘If you loved me, you would not think this or do that.’ That statement is not denying the presence of his love, but it is an indication that at that moment she recognises that he could show his love in a better way. Jesus says to his disciples that it would be a better expression of love by them if they thought properly about what was going to happen to him when he went to the Father. It would be his exaltation.
What did Jesus mean when he said that the Father was greater than him? Some people wonder how this statement fits with the biblical teaching that the members of the Trinity are equal in power and glory. The answer to the concern is that sometimes Jesus speaks as the second person of the Trinity and at other times he speaks about himself as the Mediator who performs the will of the Father and whose goal is to bring glory to the Father through fulfilling all that was and is and will be expected of him in the provision of salvation. He is speaking as the Mediator here when he says that the Father is greater than him.
It is important to see that there is no resentment in Jesus when he makes this description of the relationship he has with the Father. Indeed, what is in his heart is love for the Father. This love for the Father covers everything that Jesus did on earth, including going to the cross.