Our genuine love for Jesus and His commandments continually run up against a deeply ingrained disposition to self-love and autonomy. The result is, as believers in Jesus, our lives are a continual struggle.
This week’s Gospel reading begins and ends with the same basic idea. That is, love for Jesus and obedience to His commandments go together. You cannot have one without the other. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments,” He says in verse 15. Then, He says it again using the reverse order in verse 21, “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me.” It is not a complicated idea. It is clear and basic. Those who love Jesus, obey Him. Those who obey Jesus, love Him.
But as every Christian knows well, this clear and basic truth is not always easy to put into practice. In fact, sometimes the clearest and most basic truths are the most difficult.
The challenge is that this truth captures only half of the Christian life. The other half lingers in the shadows. While we really do love Jesus, we also (really) love ourselves. And although we really do want to obey Him, we are naturally inclined to obey ourselves, our impulses and intuitions, our desires and predilections, and our preferences and plans. Our genuine love for Jesus and His commandments continually run up against a deeply ingrained disposition to self-love and autonomy. The result is, as believers in Jesus, our lives are a continual struggle.
Jesus knows this, of course. Not only by virtue of His divine nature, but also because He spent three years with His disciples. He watched them struggle to embody both the love of Jesus and obedience to His commands. He knew their battle would continue after His departure. This is what makes His promise in verses 16-17 so important, not only for the disciples in the upper room that night, but also for every disciple who would follow them, including you and me and those who gather to hear your sermon this Sunday.
Which is why I suggest using your sermon this week to meditate on the promise in this text. You could break it down into three parts and spend your time considering each part (you might consider using the “Definition” structure for this sermon).
Part 1: Another Helper
“I will ask the Father,” Jesus told them, “and He will give you another Helper” (John 14:16). Jesus knew they would need help after His departure. And He knew we would need help, too. So, He promised them another Helper.
Remember the context. They were in the Upper Room on the night Jesus was betrayed, the night He would be helping His (and all) people by laying down His life. But before heading to and through the cross and the empty tomb, He gave them a new command in the previous chapter: “[L]ove one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). The idea of loving one another is easy in theory. But anyone who belongs to a family, or a congregation, or to any other collection of sinful people knows Yogi Berra was right: “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.” That difference is great. Jesus knew it. They would need help.
Jesus knew they would need help after His departure. And He knew we would need help, too. So, He promised them another Helper.
But notice how Jesus modifies this Helper as “another.” This reminds us that God had already sent His people a Helper, who is Jesus Himself.
Part 2: The Helper Forever
“I will ask the Father,” Jesus told them, “and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (John 14:16). This part of the promise stands in sharp contrast to what Jesus had just said to them about Himself. In John 13:36, He started down this path: “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you will follow afterward.” He continued in chapter 14, “I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself” (John 14:2-3). The disciples certainly did not understand what Jesus meant at the time. But in hindsight, it became clear Jesus would not always be with them, at least not always in the form of a physical human being. He would remain with them, but in mysterious ways through things like bread and wine, spoken words, and the community of believers. But Jesus would not be with them as He was in the upper room, or as He will be on that last and great day.
In contrast, the Spirit who would descend on them at Pentecost, and who would be received through repentance and baptism (see Acts 2:38), would be with them forever. This Helper would come and stay with them until the end of the age, and even beyond. This would be good for them (see John 16:7).
Part 3: The Helper in You
“[F]or He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17b). We have many helpers in life. You could spend a few minutes in the sermon making a nice long list. But it is hard to imagine a more intimate and personal Helper than this. Other helpers impact our lives from the outside-in. But not this Helper. He takes up residence inside of us and works His work outward into our lives. He possesses us. He enlivens us. He generates faith in Jesus in our hearts, and He instigates fruitful desires which lead to good fruit in our relationships with one another. In other words, this Helper makes right our relationship with God through faith in Jesus and our relationships with one another through the love of Jesus (notice how the Lutheran distinction known as the “two kinds of righteousness” (2KR) fits well here - a recent collection of helpful essays on 2KR can be found here).
Which brings us back to Jesus’ uncomplicated summary of the Christian life from the beginning of this reflection. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments,” He says in verse 15. Then He says it again reverse order in verse 21, “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me.” This clear and basic idea is true of Christians, not because of our own ability or will or desire, but because of the Helper Jesus promised then and continues to send here and now.
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on John 14:15-21.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching John 14:15-21.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
