#1529 John 16 Part 3 In The Name

 

23 And on that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made complete.

25 “These things I have spoken to you in figures of speech; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you openly of the Father. 26 On that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. 28 I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.”

29 His disciples *said, “Behold, now You are speaking openly and are not using a figure of speech. 30 Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16: 23-33 LSB

John 16: 23-33 

V. 23 And on that day - He has told them that He is leaving life, that He is going to be cut off from the living,

made a sacrifice for sins. This has caused them sorrow, and He has told them that the world will rejoice, but their sorrow, that of the disciples, will be short lived, because He is going to rise from the dead. They will be so astonished at the resurrection, so overcome by what is the complete reversal of the natural as they know it, that they are basically left speechless. 

…14Just as many were appalled at Him—His appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man, and His form was marred beyond human likeness— 15so He will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of Him. For they will see what they have not been told, and they will understand what they have not heard. Isaiah 52: 14-15

V. 24 Until now you have asked for nothing in My name - All that is about to change. Christ is still our mediator, standing at the right hand of the Father, but picture this through the eyes of Judaism. The temple isn't just a beautiful building, that was never it's intent, it is a picture of Christ, the work of redemption. You have a room called the Holy of Holies, and in that room only the high priest could enter. It was behind a veil, and there stood the Ark of the Covenant, the representation of God being present with His people, to tabernacle amongst them. This is the footstool of God's presence, and none of the people on the outside of the tent, when it was in the wilderness, nor the temple, after it became a building in Jerusalem, could enter. This communicated the Holiness of God, the inability of man to approach, and so only the high priest entered once a year, and only in the prescribed fashion, as he was the picture of Christ, Who was yet to come. 

…6When everything had been prepared in this way, the priests entered regularly into the first room to perform their sacred duties. 7But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8By this arrangement the Holy Spirit was showing that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing.… Hebrews 9: 6-8

14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.… Hebrews 4: 14-16

V. 25 But will tell you openly of the Father - The veil will be lifted, access will be granted through Christ, the great High Priest. It's easy to understate, but impossible to overstate the magnitude of what He is talking about. It is a gulf that time and space cannot contain, the human mind cannot process, so they have the temple, but it's so much bigger than that. Priests died who did not approach in they way prescribed, no one survived on their own merit. Christ was always the Key. In other words, the void, the separation, the veil, cannot be overcome by human means. It is an impossible distance, invisible to the blind eyes of men, and the otherliness of God, who can remark on such things?

5“Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”… John 14: 5-7

…50When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He yielded up His spirit. 51At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. 52The tombs broke open, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.… Matthew 25: 50-52

More on the temple

On the Tabernacle

V. 27 For the Father Himself loves you - They have communion with the Father now in Christ's name. You have been given a new name. I was a slave to sin, to a fallen world, and God purchased me out of it with the blood of His Son. Now I have been brought into this family, and the Holy Spirit takes up residence in me as proof of my of my adoption. I have a new name, a new life, access to the Father, not through any human priest, not by my works, not only once a year, but everyday, always and forever. As soon as I believed in Jesus Christ as Lord, and that God had raised Him from the dead, I had this unprecedented access, this acceptance. We are no longer outside the camp, no longer staring at a cloud from afar. We now cry Abba, Father. That is a most precious sort of audience.  

…8But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.… Romans 10: 8-10

V. 28 I came forth from the Father - Jesus origins were otherly. 

…34“How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. 36Look, even Elizabeth your relative has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is in her sixth month.… Luke 1: 34-36

V. 30 Now we know that You know all things - They believe Him when He speaks, but it hasn't been tested yet.

i. “They declared that their belief in the Divinity of His mission was confirmed. They were perfectly sincere. They felt that they had at last passed beyond the region where it would be possible to doubt. How much better He knew them than they knew themselves!” (Morgan)

V. 31 Do you now believe - Oh really, are you sure about that? People saying things with a confident sort of tone is no guarantee to the actual outcome, the reality that awaits them.

V. 32 For you to be scattered...and yet I am not alone - Their departure, though painful, was not unexpected. Christ has a much more dependable relationship with the Father, and because of their unique closeness in eternity, He is never really alone. Even at that point on the cross, when He cries, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Even looking at the back of the Father, that taste of darkness, of separation, is seen through, and looked beyond, for that glory that awaits Him. It is absolved in the knowledge of being guiltless and hope is held high by the eternal trust.  

V. 33 In the world you will have tribulation - Hard for us to accept, that is not the prosperity gospel, and no one ask for tribulation who has any sense at all, but it is the reality, and we are to trust in Christ all the more.