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254. Peter’s Denials are Foretold. Christ Predicts
His Resurrection. a
(Mt 26:30-35, Mk 14:26-31, Lk 22:31-39, Jn
13:36-38)
Thursday Night between the Departure from the Guest
Chamber and actual Arrival at Gethsemane. b |
Mt 26:30-35
30When they had sung a hymn, they went out
to the Mount of Olives.
31Then Jesus said to them,
“All of you will be made to stumble because of me
tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of
the flock will be scattered.’
32But after I am raised up, I will go
before you into Galilee.”
33But Peter answered him, “Even if all will
be made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble.”
34Jesus said to him,
“Most certainly I tell you that tonight, before the
rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”
35Peter said to him, “Even if I must die
with you, I will not deny you.” All of the disciples also said likewise.
26:31
Zechariah 13:7 |
Mk 14:26-31
26When they had sung a hymn, they went out
to the Mount of Olives.
27Jesus said to them,
“All of you will be made to stumble because of me
tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will
be scattered.’
28However, after I am raised up,
I will go before you into Galilee.”
29But Peter said to him, “Although all will
be offended, yet I will not.”
30Jesus said to him,
“Most certainly I tell you, that you today, even
this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
31But he spoke all the more, “If I must die
with you, I will not deny you.” They all said the same thing.
14:27
Zechariah 13:7 |
Lk 22:31-39
31The Lord said,
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as
wheat, 32but I prayed for you,
that your faith wouldn’t fail. You, when once you have turned again,
establish your brothers.”
33He said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go
with you both to prison and to death!”
34He said, “I tell
you, Peter, the rooster will by no means crow today until you deny that you
know me three times.”
35He said to them,
“When I sent you out without purse, and wallet, and shoes, did you lack
anything?”
They said, “Nothing.”
36Then he said to them,
“But now, whoever has a purse, let him take it, and
likewise a wallet. Whoever has none, let him sell his cloak, and buy a
sword. 37For I tell you that this
which is written must still be fulfilled in me: ‘He was counted with the
lawless.’
For that which concerns me has an end.”
38They said, “Lord, behold, here are two
swords.”
He said to them, “That is
enough.”
39He
came out, and went, as his custom was, to the Mount of Olives. His disciples
also followed him.
22:32
The word for “brothers” here may be also correctly translated “brothers and
sisters” or “siblings.”
22:37
Isaiah 53:12 |
Jn 13:36-38
36Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are
you going?”
Jesus answered, “Where I am
going, you can’t follow now, but you will follow afterwards.”
37Peter said to him, “Lord, why can’t I
follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
38Jesus answered him,
“Will you lay down your life for me? Most certainly
I tell you, the rooster won’t crow until you have denied me three times. |
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255. Farewell Discourses:
c Jesus Comforts His Disciples and Promises
the Comforter.
(Jn 14:1-31)
Thursday Night |
i. "I Go to Prepare a Place for You" |
Jn 14:1-4
1“Don’t
let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.
2In my Father’s house are many
homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a
place for you. 3If I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to
myself; that where I am, you may be there also. 4Where
I go, you know, and you know the way.” |
ii. Interrupted by Thomas: "Lord, We Know Not Whither Thou Goest" |
Jn 14:5-7
5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t
know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
6Jesus said to him,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one
comes to the Father, except through me. 7If
you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you
know him, and have seen him.” |
iii. Interrupted by Philip: "Lord, Shew Us the Father, and It
Sufficeth Us" |
Jn 14:8-21
8Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the
Father, and that will be enough for us.”
9Jesus said to him,
“Have I been with you such a long time, and do
you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do
you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ 10Don’t
you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words
that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me
does his works. 11Believe me
that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for
the very works’ sake. 12Most
certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he
will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am
going to my Father. 13Whatever
you will ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. 14If
you will ask anything in my name, I will do it. 15If
you love me, keep my commandments. 16I
will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor,
that he may be with you forever,—17the
Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him,
neither knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in
you. 18I will not leave you
orphans. I will come to you. 19Yet
a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me.
Because I live, you will live also. 20In
that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in
you. 21One who has my
commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who
loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will
reveal myself to him.”
14:16
Greek Parakleton: Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, and
Comforter. |
iv. Interrupted by Judas: "Lord, How is it that Thou Wilt Manifest
Thyself unto Us?" |
Jn 14:22-25
22Judas (not Iscariot) said to him,
“Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us,
and not to the world?”
23Jesus
answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep
my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our
home with him. 24He who
doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t
mine, but the Father’s who sent me. 25I
have said these things to you, while still living with you.
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v. The Promise of the Comforter and the Bequest of Peace |
Jn 14:26-31
26But the
Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he
will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to
you. 27Peace I leave with
you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you.
Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.
28You heard how I told you, ‘I go
away, and I come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced,
because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than
I. 29Now I have told you
before it happens so that, when it happens, you may believe.
30I will no more speak much with
you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me.
31But that the world may know that I
love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise,
let us go from here. |
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256. Farewell Discourses: Christ the True Vine
(Jn 15:1-27)
Thursday Night. |
i. "I am the Vine, Ye are the Branches" |
Jn 15:1-17
1“I
am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 2Every
branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that
bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3You
are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4Remain in me, and I in you.
As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine,
so neither can you, unless you remain in me. 5I
am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him,
the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
6If a man doesn’t remain in me, he
is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw
them into the fire, and they are burned. 7If
you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you
desire, and it will be done for you.
8“In this is my
Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my
disciples. 9Even as the
Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love.
10If you keep my commandments, you
will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments,
and remain in his love. 11I
have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that
your joy may be made full.
12“This is my
commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.
13Greater love has no one than this,
that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14You
are my friends, if you do whatever I command you. 15No
longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his
lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard
from my Father, I have made known to you. 16You
didn’t choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go
and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you
will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
17“I
command these things to you, that you may love one another. |
ii. The Relation of the Disciples to the World |
Jn 15:18-27
18If the world
hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.
19If you were of the world, the
world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I
chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20Remember the word that I said to you:
‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’
d If they persecuted me,
they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours
also. 21But all these things
will they do to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who
sent me. 22If I had not come
and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no
excuse for their sin. 23He
who hates me, hates my Father also. 24If
I hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t
have had sin. But now have they seen and also hated both me and my
Father. 25But this happened
so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They
hated me without a cause.’
26“When the
Counselor
has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth,
who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. 27You
will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.
15:20
John 13:16
15:25
Psalms 35:19; 69:4
15:26
Greek Parakletos: Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, and
Comforter. |
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257. Farewell Discourses: Persecutions. The Holy
Spirit Promsed. Accessibility of the Father.
(Jn 16:1-33)
Thursday Night. |
i. Persecutions |
Jn 16:1-15
1“These
things have I spoken to you, so that you wouldn’t be caused to stumble.
2They will put you out of the
synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that
he offers service to God. 3They
will do these things
because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4But
I have told you these things, so that when the time comes, you may
remember that I told you about them. I didn’t tell you these things from
the beginning, because I was with you. 5But
now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are
you going?’ 6But because I
have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. 7Nevertheless
I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I
don’t go away, the Counselor won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send
him to you. 8When he has
come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and
about judgment; 9about sin,
because they don’t believe in me; 10about
righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won’t see me any
more; 11about judgment,
because the prince of this world has been judged.
12“I
have yet many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now.
13However
when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all
truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he
will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.
14He
will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it
to you. 15All
things whatever the Father has are mine; therefore I said that he takes
of
mine, and will declare it to you.
16:3
TR adds “to you”
16:15
TR reads “will take” instead of “takes” |
ii. "A Little While" |
Jn 16:16-22
16A little
while, and you will not see me. Again a little while, and you will see
me.”
17Some of his disciples therefore said
to one another, “What is this that he says to us,
‘A little while, and you won’t see me, and
again a little while, and you will see me;’ and,
‘Because I go to the Father?’” 18They
said therefore, “What is this that he says, ‘A
little while?’ We don’t know what he is saying.”
19Therefore Jesus perceived that they
wanted to ask him, and he said to them, “Do you
inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, ‘A little while,
and you won’t see me, and again a little while, and you will see me?’
20Most certainly I tell you,
that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be
sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. 21A
woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow, because her time has come. But
when she has delivered the child, she doesn’t remember the anguish any
more, for the joy that a human being is born into the world.
22Therefore you now have sorrow, but
I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take
your joy away from you. |
iii. "The Father Himself Loveth You" |
Jn 16:23-33
23“In that day
you will ask me no questions. Most certainly I tell you, whatever you
may ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24Until
now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that
your joy may be made full. 25I
have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is
coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will
tell you plainly about the Father. 26In
that day you will ask in my name; and I don’t say to you, that I will
pray to the Father for you, 27for
the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have
believed that I came forth from God. 28I
came out from the Father, and have come into the world. Again, I leave
the world, and go to the Father.”
29His disciples said to him, “Behold,
now you speak plainly, and speak no figures of speech. 30Now
we know that you know all things, and don’t need for anyone to question
you. By this we believe that you came forth from God.”
31Jesus answered them,
“Do you now believe? 32Behold,
the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered,
everyone to his own place, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not
alone, because the Father is with me. 33I
have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world
you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.” |
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258. The Great Intercessory Prayer
e
(Jn 17:1-26)
Thursday Night. |
i. For Himself |
Jn 17:1-5
1Jesus
said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said,
“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son,
that your Son may also glorify you; 2even
as you gave him authority over all flesh, he will give eternal life to
all whom you have given him. 3This
is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him
whom you sent, Jesus Christ. 4I
glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have
given me to do. 5Now, Father,
glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before
the world existed. |
ii. For His Disciples |
Jn 17:6-19
6I
revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the
world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept
your word. 7Now
they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you,
8for
the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they
received them, and knew for sure that I came forth from you, and they
have believed that you sent me.
9I
pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have
given me, for they are yours.
10All
things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified
in them. 11I
am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to
you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me,
that they may be one, even as we are.
12While
I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you
have given me I have kept. None of them is lost, except the son of
destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
13But
now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may
have my joy made full in themselves.
14I
have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of
the world, even as I am not of the world.
15I
pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would
keep them from the evil one.
16They
are not of the world even as I am not of the world.
17Sanctify
them in your truth. Your word is truth.
18As
you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world.
19For
their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be
sanctified in truth.
17:17
Psalm 119:142 |
iii. For All Believers |
Jn 17:20-26
20Not
for these only do I pray, but for those also who believe in me through
their word, 21that they may
all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also
may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
22The glory which you have given me,
I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one;
23I in them, and you in me, that
they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent
me, and loved them, even as you loved me. 24Father,
I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am,
that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me
before the foundation of the world. 25Righteous
Father, the world hasn’t known you, but I knew you; and these knew that
you sent me. 26I made known
to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you
loved me may be in them, and I in them.” |
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Footnotes
a) See Nos. 35, 116, 123, 205, 245.
b) Followed by the farewell discourses as
reported by John. Variously placed by the different harmonists. The order
which we have followed is prompted by the desire to avoid wherever possible
all transpositions. See No. 259.
c) Where the words were
spoken, whether in the upper room or in the court yard or in some retreat on
the way to Gethsemane-hardly in the Temple-the Evangelist does not indicate.
It is quite possible that the prediction of the denials of Peter and the
farewell discourses were delivered as the disciples rose from the table,
strapped on their sandals, stepped out into the balcony, and lingered in the
courtyard in accompanying their Master to the Mount of Olives. A party of
twelve could not have conveniently talked together in the streets. And
surely the prayer in chapter 17 was not spoken then.
d) Compare Matt. 10:24; No. 93: 2. Luke 6:40;
No. 72:18.
e) Where spoken? See No. 255, 1 note. |
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