Looking upon His disciples with divine love and with the tenderest sympathy, Christ said, "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him." Judas had left the upper chamber, and Christ was alone with the eleven. He was about to speak of His approaching separation from them; but before doing this He pointed to the great object of His mission. It was this that He kept ever before Him. It was His joy that all His humiliation and suffering would glorify the Father's name. To this He first directs the thoughts of His disciples.
Then addressing them by the endearing term, "Little children," He said, "Yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek Me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you."
The disciples could not rejoice when they heard this. Fear fell upon them. They pressed close about the Saviour. Their Master and Lord, their beloved Teacher and Friend, He was dearer to them than life. To Him they had looked for help in all their difficulties, for comfort in their sorrows and disappointments. Now He was to leave them, a lonely, dependent company. Dark were the forebodings that filled their hearts.
But the Saviour's words
to them were full of hope. He knew that they were to be assailed
by the enemy, and that Satan's craft is most successful against
those who are depressed by difficulties. Therefore He pointed
them away from "the things which are seen," to "the
things which are not seen." 2 Cor. 4:18. From earthly exile
He turned their thoughts to the heavenly home.
"Let not your heart be troubled," He said; "ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that were I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." For your sake I came into the world. I am working in your behalf. When I go away, I shall still work earnestly for you. I came into the world to reveal Myself to you, that you might believe. I go to the Father to co-operate with Him in your behalf. The object of Christ's departure was the opposite of what the disciples feared. It did not mean a final separation. He was going to prepare a place for them, that He might come again, and receive them unto Himself. While He was building mansions for them, they were to build characters after the divine similitude.
Still the disciples were perplexed. Thomas, always troubled by doubts, said, "Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him."
There are not many ways to heaven. Each one may not choose his own way. Christ says, "I am the way: . . . no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." Since the first gospel sermon was preached, when in Eden it was declared that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, Christ had been uplifted as the way, the truth, and the life. He was the way when Adam lived, when Abel presented to God the blood of the slain lamb, representing the blood of the Redeemer. Christ was the way by which patriarchs and prophets were saved. He is the way by which alone we can have access to God.
"If ye had known Me," Christ said, "ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him." But not yet did the disciples understand. "Lord, show us the Father," exclaimed Philip, "and it sufficeth us."
Amazed at his dullness of
comprehension, Christ asked with pained surprise, "Have I
been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip?"
Is it possible that you do not see the Father in the works He
does through Me? Do you not believe that I came to testify of
the Father? "How sayest thou then, Show us the Father?"
"He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." Christ
had not ceased to be God when He became man. Though He had humbled
Himself to humanity, the Godhead was still His own. Christ alone
could represent the Father to humanity, and this representation
the disciples had been privileged to behold for over three years.
"Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works' sake." Their faith might safely rest on the evidence given in Christ's works, works that no man, of himself, ever had done, or ever could do. Christ's work testified to His divinity. Through Him the Father had been revealed.
If the disciples believed this vital connection between the Father and the Son, their faith would not forsake them when they saw Christ's suffering and death to save a perishing world. Christ was seeking to lead them from their low condition of faith to the experience they might receive if they truly realized what He was,--God in human flesh. He desired them to see that their faith must lead up to God, and be anchored there. How earnestly and perseveringly our compassionate Saviour sought to prepare His disciples for the storm of temptation that was soon to beat upon them. He would have them hid with Him in God.
As Christ was speaking these words, the glory of God was shining from His countenance, and all present felt a sacred awe as they listened with rapt attention to His words. Their hearts were more decidedly drawn to Him; and as they were drawn to Christ in greater love, they were drawn to one another. They felt that heaven was very near, and that the words to which they listened were a message to them from their heavenly Father.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you," Christ continued, "He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also." The Saviour was deeply anxious for His disciples to understand for what purpose His divinity was united to humanity. He came to the world to display the glory of God, that man might be uplifted by its restoring power. God was manifested in Him that He might be manifested in them. Jesus revealed no qualities, and exercised no powers, that men may not have through faith in Him. His perfect humanity is that which all His followers may possess, if they will be in subjection to God as He was.
"And greater works
than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father." By
this Christ did not mean that the disciples' work would be of
a more exalted character than His, but that it would have greater
extent. He did not refer merely to miracle working, but to all
that would take place under the working of the Holy Spirit.
After the Lord's ascension, the disciples realized the fulfillment of His promise. The scenes of the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ were a living reality to them. They saw that the prophecies had been literally fulfilled. They searched the Scriptures, and accepted their teaching with a faith and assurance unknown before. They knew that the divine Teacher was all that He had claimed to be. As they told their experience, and exalted the love of God, men's hearts were melted and subdued, and multitudes believed on Jesus.
The Saviour's promise to His disciples is a promise to His church to the end of time. God did not design that His wonderful plan to redeem men should achieve only insignificant results. All who will go to work, trusting not in what they themselves can do, but in what God can do for and through them, will certainly realize the fulfillment of His promise. "Greater works than these shall ye do," He declares; "because I go unto My Father."
As yet the disciples were unacquainted with the Saviour's unlimited resources and power. He said to them, "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name." John 16:24. He explained that the secret of their success would be in asking for strength and grace in His name. He would be present before the Father to make request for them. The prayer of the humble suppliant He presents as His own desire in that soul's behalf. Every sincere prayer is heard in heaven. It may not be fluently expressed; but if the heart is in it, it will ascend to the sanctuary where Jesus ministers, and He will present it to the Father without one awkward, stammering word, beautiful and fragrant with the incense of His own perfection.
The path of sincerity and integrity is not a path free from obstruction, but in every difficulty we are to see a call to prayer. There is no one living who has any power that he has not received from God, and the source whence it comes is open to the weakest human being. "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name," said Jesus, "that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it."
"In My name,"
Christ bade His disciples pray. In Christ's name His followers
are to stand before God. Through the value of the sacrifice made
for them, they are of value in the Lord's sight. Because of the
imputed righteousness of Christ they are accounted precious. For
Christ's sake the Lord pardons those that fear Him. He does not
see in them the vileness of the sinner. He recognizes in them
the likeness of His Son, in whom they believe.
The Lord is disappointed when His people place a low estimate upon themselves. He desires His chosen heritage to value themselves according to the price He has placed upon them. God wanted them, else He would not have sent His Son on such an expensive errand to redeem them. He has a use for them, and He is well pleased when they make the very highest demands upon Him, that they may glorify His name. They may expect large things if they have faith in His promises.
But to pray in Christ's name means much. It means that we are to accept His character, manifest His spirit, and work His works. The Saviour's promise is given on condition. "If ye love Me," He says, "keep My commandments." He saves men, not in sin, but from sin; and those who love Him will show their love by obedience.
All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His service. When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual obedience. Through an appreciation of the character of Christ, through communion with God, sin will become hateful to us.
As Christ lived the law in humanity, so we may do if we will take hold of the Strong for strength. But we are not to place the responsibility of our duty upon others, and wait for them to tell us what to do. We cannot depend for counsel upon humanity. The Lord will teach us our duty just as willingly as He will teach somebody else. If we come to Him in faith, He will speak His mysteries to us personally. Our hearts will often burn within us as One draws nigh to commune with us as He did with Enoch. Those who decide to do nothing in any line that will displease God, will know, after presenting their case before Him, just what course to pursue. And they will receive not only wisdom, but strength. Power for obedience, for service, will be imparted to them, as Christ has promised. Whatever was given to Christ--the "all things" to supply the need of fallen men--was given to Him as the head and representative of humanity. And "whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight." 1 John 3:22.
Before offering Himself
as the sacrificial victim, Christ sought for the most essential
and complete gift to bestow upon His followers, a gift that would
bring within their reach the boundless resources of grace. "I
will pray the Father," He said, "and He shall give you
another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the
Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth
Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth
with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you orphans: I
will come to you." John 14:16-18, margin.
Before this the Spirit had been in the world; from the very beginning of the work of redemption He had been moving upon men's hearts. But while Christ was on earth, the disciples had desired no other helper. Not until they were deprived of His presence would they feel their need of the Spirit, and then He would come.
The Holy Spirit is Christ's representative, but divested of the personality of humanity, and independent thereof. Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally. Therefore it was for their interest that He should go to the Father, and send the Spirit to be His successor on earth. No one could then have any advantage because of his location or his personal contact with Christ. By the Spirit the Saviour would be accessible to all. In this sense He would be nearer to them than if He had not ascended on high.
"He that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him." Jesus read the future of His disciples. He saw one brought to the scaffold, one to the cross, one to exile among the lonely rocks of the sea, others to persecution and death. He encouraged them with the promise that in every trial He would be with them. That promise has lost none of its force. The Lord knows all about His faithful servants who for His sake are lying in prison or who are banished to lonely islands. He comforts them with His own presence. When for the truth's sake the believer stands at the bar of unrighteous tribunals, Christ stands by his side. All the reproaches that fall upon him, fall upon Christ. Christ is condemned over again in the person of His disciple. When one is incarcerated in prison walls, Christ ravishes the heart with His love. When one suffers death for His sake, Christ says, "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, . . . and have the keys of hell and of death." Rev. 1:18. The life that is sacrificed for Me is preserved unto eternal glory.
At all times and in all
places, in all sorrows and in all afflictions, when the outlook
seems dark and the future perplexing, and we feel helpless and
alone, the Comforter will be sent in answer to the prayer of faith.
Circumstances may separate us from every earthly friend; but no
circumstance, no distance, can separate us from the heavenly Comforter.
Wherever we are, wherever we may go, He is always at our right
hand to support, sustain, uphold, and cheer.
The disciples still failed to understand Christ's words in their spiritual sense, and again He explained His meaning. By the Spirit, He said, He would manifest Himself to them. "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things." No more will you say, I cannot comprehend. No longer will you see through a glass, darkly. You shall "be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." Eph. 3:18, 19.
The disciples were to bear witness to the life and work of Christ. Through their word He was to speak to all the people on the face of the earth. But in the humiliation and death of Christ they were to suffer great trial and disappointment. That after this experience their word might be accurate, Jesus promised that the Comforter should "bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
"I have yet many things
to say unto you," He continued, "but ye cannot bear
them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will
guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but
whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show
you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive
of Mine, and shall show it unto you." Jesus had opened before
His disciples a vast tract of truth. But it was most difficult
for them to keep His lessons distinct from the traditions and
maxims of the scribes and Pharisees. They had been educated to
accept the teaching of the rabbis as the voice of God, and it
still held a power over their minds, and molded their sentiments.
Earthly ideas, temporal things, still had a large place in their
thoughts. They did not understand the spiritual nature of Christ's
kingdom, though He had so often explained it to them. Their minds
had become confused. They did not comprehend the value of the
scriptures Christ presented. Many of His lessons seemed almost
lost upon them. Jesus saw that they did not lay hold of the real
meaning of His words. He compassionately promised that the Holy
Spirit should recall these sayings to their minds. And He had
left unsaid many things that could not be comprehended by the
disciples. These also would be opened to them by the Spirit. The
Spirit was to quicken their understanding, that they might have
an appreciation of heavenly things. "When He, the Spirit
of truth, is come," said Jesus, "He will guide you into
all truth."
The Comforter is called "the Spirit of truth." His work is to define and maintain the truth. He first dwells in the heart as the Spirit of truth, and thus He becomes the Comforter. There is comfort and peace in the truth, but no real peace or comfort can be found in falsehood. It is through false theories and traditions that Satan gains his power over the mind. By directing men to false standards, he misshapes the character. Through the Scriptures the Holy Spirit speaks to the mind, and impresses truth upon the heart. Thus He exposes error, and expels it from the soul. It is by the Spirit of truth, working through the word of God, that Christ subdues His chosen people to Himself.
In describing to His disciples the office work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus sought to inspire them with the joy and hope that inspired His own heart. He rejoiced because of the abundant help He had provided for His church. The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that He could solicit from His Father for the exaltation of His people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world's Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church.
Of the Spirit Jesus said, "He shall glorify Me." The Saviour came to glorify the Father by the demonstration of His love; so the Spirit was to glorify Christ by revealing His grace to the world. The very image of God is to be reproduced in humanity. The honor of God, the honor of Christ, is involved in the perfection of the character of His people.
"When He [the Spirit
of truth] is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness,
and of judgment." The preaching of the word will be of no
avail without the continual presence and aid of the Holy Spirit.
This is the only effectual teacher of divine truth. Only when
the truth is accompanied to the heart by the Spirit will it quicken
the conscience or transform the life. One might be able to present
the letter of the word of God, he might be familiar with all its
commands and promises; but unless the Holy Spirit sets home the
truth, no souls will fall on the Rock and be broken. No amount
of education, no advantages, however great, can make one a channel
of light without the co-operation of the Spirit of God. The sowing
of the gospel seed will not be a success unless the seed is quickened
into life by the dew of heaven. Before one book of the New Testament
was written, before one gospel sermon had been preached after
Christ's ascension, the Holy Spirit came upon the praying apostles.
Then the testimony of their enemies was, "Ye have filled
Jerusalem with your doctrine." Acts 5:28.
Christ has promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to His church, and the promise belongs to us as much as to the first disciples. But like every other promise, it is given on conditions. There are many who believe and profess to claim the Lord's promise; they talk about Christ and about the Holy Spirit, yet receive no benefit. They do not surrender the soul to be guided and controlled by the divine agencies. We cannot use the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is to use us. Through the Spirit God works in His people "to will and to do of His good pleasure." Phil. 2:13. But many will not submit to this. They want to manage themselves. This is why they do not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given. The power of God awaits their demand and reception. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train. It is given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and He is ready to supply every soul according to the capacity to receive.
In His discourse to the disciples, Jesus made no mournful allusion to His own sufferings and death. His last legacy to them was a legacy of peace. He said, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
Before leaving the upper chamber, the Saviour led His disciples in a song of praise. His voice was heard, not in the strains of some mournful lament, but in the joyful notes of the Passover hallel:
"O praise the Lord,
all ye nations:
Praise Him, all ye people.
For His merciful kindness is
great toward us:
And the truth of the Lord endureth
forever.
Praise ye the Lord." Psalm
117.
Page 673
After the hymn, they went out.
Through the crowded streets they made their way, passing out of
the city gate toward the Mount of Olives. Slowly they proceeded,
each busy with his own thoughts. As they began to descend toward
the mount, Jesus said, in a tone of deepest sadness, "All
ye shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written,
I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be
scattered abroad." Matt. 26:31. The disciples listened in
sorrow and amazement. They remembered how in the synagogue at
Capernaum, when Christ spoke of Himself as the bread of life,
many had been offended, and had turned away from Him. But the
twelve had not shown themselves unfaithful. Peter, speaking for
his brethren, had then declared his loyalty to Christ. Then the
Saviour had said, "Have not I chosen you twelve, and one
of you is a devil?" John 6:70. In the upper chamber Jesus
said that one of the twelve would betray Him, and that Peter would
deny Him. But now His words include them all.
Now Peter's voice is heard vehemently protesting, "Although all shall be offended, yet will not I." In the upper chamber he had declared, "I will lay down my life for Thy sake." Jesus had warned him that he would that very night deny his Saviour. Now Christ repeats the warning: "Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice." But Peter only "spake the more vehemently, If I should die with Thee, I will not deny Thee in anywise. Likewise also said they all." Mark 14:29, 30, 31. In their self-confidence they denied the repeated statement of Him who knew. They were unprepared for the test; when temptation should overtake them, they would understand their own weakness.
When Peter said he would
follow his Lord to prison and to death, he meant it, every word
of it; but he did not know himself. Hidden in his heart were elements
of evil that circumstances would fan into life. Unless he was
made conscious of his danger, these would prove his eternal ruin.
The Saviour saw in him a self-love and assurance that would overbear
even his love for Christ. Much of infirmity, of unmortified sin,
carelessness of spirit, unsanctified temper, heedlessness in entering
into temptation, had been revealed in his experience. Christ's
solemn warning was a call to heart searching. Peter needed to
distrust himself, and to have a deeper faith in Christ. Had he
in humility received the warning, he would have appealed to the
Shepherd of the flock to keep His sheep. When on the Sea of Galilee
he was about to sink, he cried, "Lord, save me." Matt.
14:30. Then the hand of Christ was outstretched to grasp his hand.
So now if he had cried to Jesus, Save me from myself, he would
have been kept. But Peter felt that he was distrusted, and he
thought it cruel. He was already offended, and he became more
persistent in his self-confidence.
Jesus looks with compassion on His disciples. He cannot save them from the trial, but He does not leave them comfortless. He assures them that He is to break the fetters of the tomb, and that His love for them will not fail. "After I am risen again," He says, "I will go before you into Galilee." Matt. 26:32. Before the denial, they have the assurance of forgiveness. After His death and resurrection, they knew that they were forgiven, and were dear to the heart of Christ.
Jesus and the disciples were on the way to Gethsemane, at the foot of Mount Olivet, a retired spot which He had often visited for meditation and prayer. The Saviour had been explaining to His disciples His mission to the world, and the spiritual relation to Him which they were to sustain. Now He illustrates the lesson. The moon is shining bright, and reveals to Him a flourishing grapevine. Drawing the attention of the disciples to it, He employs it as a symbol.
"I am the true Vine,"
He says. Instead of choosing the graceful palm, the lofty cedar,
or the strong oak, Jesus takes the vine with its clinging tendrils
to represent Himself. The palm tree, the cedar, and the oak stand
alone. They require no support. But the vine entwines about the
trellis, and thus climbs heavenward. So Christ in His humanity
was dependent upon divine power. "I can of Mine own self
do nothing," He declared. John 5:30.
"I am the true Vine." The Jews had always regarded the vine as the most noble of plants, and a type of all that was powerful, excellent, and fruitful. Israel had been represented as a vine which God had planted in the Promised Land. The Jews based their hope of salvation on the fact of their connection with Israel. But Jesus says, I am the real Vine. Think not that through a connection with Israel you may become partakers of the life of God, and inheritors of His promise. Through Me alone is spiritual life received.
"I am the true Vine, and My Father is the husbandman." On the hills of Palestine our heavenly Father had planted this goodly Vine, and He Himself was the husbandman. Many were attracted by the beauty of this Vine, and declared its heavenly origin. But to the leaders in Israel it appeared as a root out of a dry ground. They took the plant, and bruised it, and trampled it under their unholy feet. Their thought was to destroy it forever. But the heavenly Husbandman never lost sight of His plant. After men thought they had killed it, He took it, and replanted it on the other side of the wall. The vine stock was to be no longer visible. It was hidden from the rude assaults of men. But the branches of the Vine hung over the wall. They were to represent the Vine. Through them grafts might still be united to the Vine. From them fruit has been obtained. There has been a harvest which the passers-by have plucked.
"I am the Vine, ye
are the branches," Christ said to His disciples. Though He
was about to be removed from them, their spiritual union with
Him was to be unchanged. The connection of the branch with the
vine, He said, represents the relation you are to sustain to Me.
The scion is engrafted into the living vine, and fiber by fiber,
vein by vein, it grows into the vine stock. The life of the vine
becomes the life of the branch. So the soul dead in trespasses
and sins receives life through connection with Christ. By faith
in Him as a personal Saviour the union is formed. The sinner unites
his weakness to Christ's strength, his emptiness to Christ's fullness,
his frailty to Christ's enduring might. Then he has the mind of
Christ. The humanity of Christ has touched our humanity, and our
humanity has touched divinity. Thus through the agency of the
Holy Spirit man becomes a partaker of the divine nature. He is
accepted in the Beloved.
This union with Christ, once formed, must be maintained. Christ said, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me." This is no casual touch, no off-and-on connection. The branch becomes a part of the living vine. The communication of life, strength, and fruitfulness from the root to the branches is unobstructed and constant. Separated from the vine, the branch cannot live. No more, said Jesus, can you live apart from Me. The life you have received from Me can be preserved only by continual communion. Without Me you cannot overcome one sin, or resist one temptation.
"Abide in Me, and I in you." Abiding in Christ means a constant receiving of His Spirit, a life of unreserved surrender to His service. The channel of communication must be open continually between man and his God. As the vine branch constantly draws the sap from the living vine, so are we to cling to Jesus, and receive from Him by faith the strength and perfection of His own character.
The root sends its nourishment through the branch to the outermost twig. So Christ communicates the current of spiritual strength to every believer. So long as the soul is united to Christ, there is no danger that it will wither or decay.
The life of the vine will be manifest in fragrant fruit on the branches. "He that abideth in Me," said Jesus, "and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing." When we live by faith on the Son of God, the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives; not one will be missing.
"My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away." While the graft is outwardly united with the vine, there may be no vital connection. Then there will be no growth or fruitfulness. So there may be an apparent connection with Christ without a real union with Him by faith. A profession of religion places men in the church, but the character and conduct show whether they are in connection with Christ. If they bear no fruit, they are false branches. Their separation from Christ involves a ruin as complete as that represented by the dead branch. "If a man abide not in Me," said Christ, "he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."
"And every branch that
beareth fruit, He purgeth [pruneth] it, that it may bring forth
more fruit." From the chosen twelve who had followed Jesus,
one as a withered branch was about to be taken away; the rest
were to pass under the pruning knife of bitter trial. Jesus with
solemn tenderness explained the purpose of the husbandman. The
pruning will cause pain, but it is the Father who applies the
knife. He works with no wanton hand or indifferent heart. There
are branches trailing upon the ground; these must be cut loose
from the earthly supports to which their tendrils are fastening.
They are to reach heavenward, and find their support in God. The
excessive foliage that draws away the life current from the fruit
must be pruned off. The overgrowth must be cut out, to give room
for the healing beams of the Sun of Righteousness. The husbandman
prunes away the harmful growth, that the fruit may be richer and
more abundant.
"Herein is My Father glorified," said Jesus, "that ye bear much fruit." God desires to manifest through you the holiness, the benevolence, the compassion, of His own character. Yet the Saviour does not bid the disciples labor to bear fruit. He tells them to abide in Him. "If ye abide in Me," He says, "and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." It is through the word that Christ abides in His followers. This is the same vital union that is represented by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. The words of Christ are spirit and life. Receiving them, you receive the life of the Vine. You live "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matt. 4:4. The life of Christ in you produces the same fruits as in Him. Living in Christ, adhering to Christ, supported by Christ, drawing nourishment from Christ, you bear fruit after the similitude of Christ.
In this last meeting with
His disciples, the great desire which Christ expressed for them
was that they might love one another as He had loved them. Again
and again He spoke of this. "These things I command you,"
He said repeatedly, "that ye love one another." His
very first injunction when alone with them in the upper chamber
was, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one
another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."
To the disciples this commandment was new; for they had not loved
one another as Christ had loved them. He saw that new ideas and
impulses must control them; that new principles must be practiced
by them; through His life and death they were to receive a new
conception of love. The command to love one another had a new
meaning in the light of His self-sacrifice. The whole work of
grace is one continual service of love, of self-denying, self-sacrificing
effort. During every hour of Christ's sojourn upon the earth,
the love of God was flowing from Him in irrepressible streams.
All who are imbued with His Spirit will love as He loved. The
very principle that actuated Christ will actuate them in all their
dealing one with another.
This love is the evidence of their discipleship. "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples," said Jesus, "if ye have love one to another." When men are bound together, not by force or self-interest, but by love, they show the working of an influence that is above every human influence. Where this oneness exists, it is evidence that the image of God is being restored in humanity, that a new principle of life has been implanted. It shows that there is power in the divine nature to withstand the supernatural agencies of evil, and that the grace of God subdues the selfishness inherent in the natural heart.
This love, manifested in the church, will surely stir the wrath of Satan. Christ did not mark out for His disciples an easy path. "If the world hate you," He said, "ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for My name's sake, because they know not Him that sent Me." The gospel is to be carried forward by aggressive warfare, in the midst of opposition, peril, loss, and suffering. But those who do this work are only following in their Master's steps.
As the world's Redeemer,
Christ was constantly confronted with apparent failure. He, the
messenger of mercy to our world, seemed to do little of the work
He longed to do in uplifting and saving. Satanic influences were
constantly working to oppose His way. But He would not be discouraged.
Through the prophecy of Isaiah He declares, "I have labored
in vain, I have spent My strength for nought, and in vain: yet
surely My judgment is with the Lord, and My work with My God.
. . . Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in
the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength." It
is to Christ that the promise is given, "Thus saith the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy One, to Him whom man despiseth,
to Him whom the nation abhorreth; . . . thus saith the Lord: .
. . I will preserve Thee, and give Thee for a covenant of the
people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate
heritages; that Thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to
them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. . . . They shall not
hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them:
for He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs
of water shall He guide them." Isa. 49:4, 5, 7-10.
Upon this word Jesus rested, and He gave Satan no advantage. When the last steps of Christ's humiliation were to be taken, when the deepest sorrow was closing about His soul, He said to His disciples, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me." "The prince of this world is judged." Now shall he be cast out. John 14:30; 16:11; 12:31. With prophetic eye Christ traced the scenes to take place in His last great conflict. He knew that when He should exclaim, "It is finished," all heaven would triumph. His ear caught the distant music and the shouts of victory in the heavenly courts. He knew that the knell of Satan's empire would then be sounded, and the name of Christ would be heralded from world to world throughout the universe.
Christ rejoiced that He could do more for His followers than they could ask or think. He spoke with assurance, knowing that an almighty decree had been given before the world was made. He knew that truth, armed with the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit, would conquer in the contest with evil; and that the bloodstained banner would wave triumphantly over His followers. He knew that the life of His trusting disciples would be like His, a series of uninterrupted victories, not seen to be such here, but recognized as such in the great hereafter.
"These things I have
spoken unto you," He said, "that in Me ye might have
peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world." Christ did not fail, neither
was He discouraged, and His followers are to manifest a faith
of the same enduring nature. They are to live as He lived, and
work as He worked, because they depend on Him as the great Master
Worker. Courage, energy, and perseverance they must possess. Though
apparent impossibilities obstruct their way, by His grace they
are to go forward. Instead of deploring difficulties, they are
called upon to surmount them. They are to despair of nothing,
and to hope for everything. With the golden chain of His matchless
love Christ has bound them to the throne of God. It is His purpose
that the highest influence in the universe, emanating from the
source of all power, shall be theirs. They are to have power to
resist evil, power that neither earth, nor death, nor hell can
master, power that will enable them to overcome as Christ overcame.
Christ designs that heaven's order, heaven's plan of government, heaven's divine harmony, shall be represented in His church on earth. Thus in His people He is glorified. Through them the Sun of Righteousness will shine in undimmed luster to the world. Christ has given to His church ample facilities, that He may receive a large revenue of glory from His redeemed, purchased possession. He has bestowed upon His people capabilities and blessings that they may represent His own sufficiency. The church, endowed with the righteousness of Christ, is His depositary, in which the riches of His mercy, His grace, and His love, are to appear in full and final display. Christ looks upon His people in their purity and perfection, as the reward of His humiliation, and the supplement of His glory,--Christ, the great Center, from whom radiates all glory.
With strong, hopeful words the Saviour ended His instruction. Then He poured out the burden of His soul in prayer for His disciples. Lifting His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee: as Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent."
Christ had finished the work that was given Him to do. He had glorified God on the earth. He had manifested the Father's name. He had gathered out those who were to continue His work among men. And He said, "I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are." "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; . . . I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me."
Thus in the language of one who has divine authority, Christ gives His elect church into the Father's arms. As a consecrated high priest He intercedes for His people. As a faithful shepherd He gathers His flock under the shadow of the Almighty, in the strong and sure refuge. For Him there waits the last battle with Satan, and He goes forth to meet it.
