The Highest Apologetic; John 13:31-38

One point that was not made last time was concerning Matthew 26:24 ^NASB “The Son of Man {is to} go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” This is just another passage to emphasise the fact that Judas was not a believer. Jesus would never say that about a believer because even in carnality a believer would still be in heaven, face to face at the point of death.

Once we see Judas go out into the night we see Jesus begin to explain to His disciples doctrines related to the coming church age. This is the importance of what is covered in the next two chapters.

John 13:31 ^NASB “Therefore when he had gone out…” We need to emphasise the opening structure there because it tells us something about what precedes. There is the inferential particle oun [o)un] which means therefore and draws a conclusion. What is drawing the conclusion or inference from? Now that Judas has departed into the night, which in John’s vocabulary always emphasises darkness and man’s love of darkness rather than light, we see the imagery there that uses that reality to bring in the imagery of Judas’ rejection of Jesus. The conclusion is that now that he has gone Jesus can say what he is getting ready to say. He can begin to teach the doctrines that He is going to teach because he has purified His audience. “… Jesus said, ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him.” There are couple of points of grammar to be clarified here. We have the Greek word nun [nun] which means “now,” but there are two different Greek words for “now”; the other is arti [a)rti]. But when they are used in the same context (again in v. 33) arti emphasises a much more immediate sense of now, as in right now, as opposed to nun which is generally now in terms of today, tomorrow, these coming events. “Now is the Son of Man glorified,” and He is not talking about right now as he sits there at the Passover meal but about what is beginning to happen. There is an aorist passive tense here and the passive voice indicates that the subject receives the action of the verb, so the Son of Man is receiving glorification. The aorist tense is used here because it is what is called a future aorist and it has an inchoative sense which means beginning: “Now is the Son of Man beginning to be glorified.” This is referring to all that will take place from this moment on.

What does it means to glorify? It means to put an emphasis on and to spotlight the essence of God. Here we are spotlighting the essence of who Jesus Christ is in the crucifixion. So the focus here is going to be on who God is and on His character. One of the problems that always occurs throughout the Old Testament is that until Christ was glorified there was always a tension in the integrity of God (His perfect righteousness, justice and love). There is a tension because the righteousness of God is the standard of God’s character. It is perfection and we know from Scripture that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We fall short of His standards. The justice of God is the application of that standard in the affairs of His creatures, and love is the basic orientation or disposition of God’s nature towards those with whom He is in relationship.

The exemplification of love for all time was on the cross. God demonstrated or manifested His love toward us in that while we were still sinners—status of rebelliousness, antagonism and enmity towards God—Christ died for us. Romans 3:25 ^NASB “whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in [by means of] His blood through faith. {This was} to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; [26] for the demonstration, {I say,} of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” To understand this we have to understand the Greek word for propitiation, and that it hilasterion [i(lasthrion]. It relates in the Septuagint to a description of the mercy seat. It refers to propitiation or satisfaction. In other words, God has a perfect standard, His righteousness, and in order for His justice to bless man His standards must be satisfied.

The mercy seat is a place on the ark of the covenant that was the centre point of worship in the temple on the Old Testament. Inside the ark was placed Aaron’s rod that budded, the Ten Commandments, and manna. The reason those three things were there is they all illustrated an incident in Israel’s history where they had disobeyed God. They had disobeyed the Ten Commandments, they had revolted against Aaron’s leadership, and they had complained and griped in the wilderness about God’s provision for them in spire of the manna. A covering, a lid, was placed on top of the ark and this lid is called the mercy seat. Two cherubim are set on top of the ark, looking down upon the mercy seat. Once a year on the day of atonement the high priest would come into the temple and would place blood from the sacrifice on the mercy seat. This represented the covering of blood over the sins of the people. Because the sins of the people were now covered by the blood of the sacrifice the two cherubs, righteousness and justice, were satisfied. The cherubim were always associated with the holiness or integrity of God in the Scriptures. So what happened at the cross was that Jesus Christ died, and it is not His physical blood. That Old Testament blood was a representative metaphor that spoke of death, a sacrificial death. In the same way, the term “blood of Christ” is a term that refers not to His physical blood but is representative of His spiritual death. On the cross His death is a spiritual substitution, it is not a physical substitution. Physical blood pays a physical penalty and physical death is not the penalty for sin. Spiritual death is the penalty for sin and that is seen by the fact that when Adam sinned he did not die physically but he did die spiritually, the immediate result.

“… and God is glorified in Him,” again, an aorist passive indicative. God is beginning to be glorified, by means of Him or through Him. It is His death on the cross that is putting the spotlight on the character of God.

John 13:32 ^NASB “if [1^st class condition] God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself…” This is a reference of the ascension of the Lord back to the Father and His glorification in heaven. “…and will glorify Him immediately.” That is, right after that. So we see what is taking place within the Godhead and the glorification of the Son by the Father because of what He does on the cross.

John 13:33 ^NASB “Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’” Now we see a phrase that is the first time we run into it in the Gospel. It is a favourite phrase of John’s in the epistles of John but this is the first time we see it in the Gospel of John: “Little children.” Now that Judas has departed He can says: “Little children.” He could not say that while Judas was there because there was an unbeliever there, and as an unbeliever not a member of the family of God. Now He can address them as little children, members of the royal family. “I am with you a little while longer.” He is beginning to warn them that it will not be long before the ascension and he is gone. This is going to cause some consternation among the disciples, e.g. verse 36.

John 13:34 ^NASB “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. [35] By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” It is by the love. This is not just talking about the impersonal love for all mankind. The standard here is bumped up a little bit just a notch or two: “even as I have loved you.” It is by this believer to believer love that all men, i.e. unbelievers, will know that you are my disciples. The term disciple is not synonymous with being a believer, it is someone who is advancing and growing in the spiritual life. So what is the greatest testimony that believers in the body of Christ have to unbelievers outside the body of Christ? Jesus said that it is the love they have one toward another. There is some sense in this passage in which God has placed it in the souls of unbelievers that this is a testimony that they recognise. They see that and they know what this means when they see the way that one believer treats another believer. So Jesus says that this is the highest form of witnessing and evidence for Christianity that we can have.

1) It is an objective love with an objective standard of evaluation. It is a thinking attitude, not an emotion.

2) It not the symbol of the cross. It is not talking about Jesus going to the cross.

3) It is not emotion.

4) It is based on character, and this character is uniquely produced in us as part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

5) It challenges unbelievers. It is more, therefore, than simply kindness, politeness, courtesy to one another. Even unbelievers can have an element of kindness, generosity, politeness and courtesy towards one another.

6) Verse 35 presupposes that the world knows this, that just as God has made His character evident in the unbeliever (Romans 1) the unbeliever has something in his soul that recognises this love of one believer to another when they see it.

7) This is the greatest apologetic or defence of our faith.

John 15:12 ^NASB “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. [13] Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. [14] You are My friends if you do what I command you.” Abraham was called the friend of God as an advanced believer in the Old Testament but here Jesus is applying the term “if you do this” to every single believer. So there is a revolutionary shift in terms of the believer’s relationship with the Lord, that of we follow this we achieve the status of being a friend of the Lord.

What are the characteristics that we see of God’s love at the cross?

1) It is initiative. This means it is not based on how other people respond to you, but is based upon your character. It is not based on somebody else’s acceptance or rejection, it is based exclusively on the character of God. God in eternity past initiated the plan of salvation in initiating grace. It is not based on anything positive in the object of love.

2) It is aggressive. That means it takes the first step. It asserts itself with confidence and boldness. It is aggressive because it has an absolute standard as its frame of reference, and that is the character of God.

3) It is characterised by humility. True humility does not emphasise its own personal glory. This is highlighted in 1 Corinthians 13, “Love does not seek its own.”

4) This love is intense. It is not weak, it includes a zealous determination to accomplish the goal no matter what the obstacles.

5) It is steadfastly loyal. This comes from the Hebrew word that is used for God’s love in the Old Testament, chesed. It emphasises the fact that it never gives up, it never releases it hold. God is always loyal to His promises to man and strongly desires for all men to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

6) Concentration. Just as Jesus Christ set Himself apart to the task of accomplishing our salvation so we set ourselves apart, and have been set apart to God in positional sanctification, and are being set apart unto God, understanding that he has a plan and a purpose and a destiny for us and we need to renovate and align our thinking to be consistent with this plan and purpose for our lives.

7) Dedication. Dedication has to do with the goal and purpose. Jesus Christ committed Himself from eternity past to the task of service, sacrifice, salvation and sanctification. In the same way we are to dedicate ourselves to this love for one another, this is not just going to happen. God produces it in us as we grow spiritually, so that means the precursor to loving one another is having enough doctrine in our souls to develop a capacity for love. This is an emphasis on our commitment to learn the Word of God so that we can develop the capacity to love one another.

8) Devoted. He devotes Himself continuously to the believer. He prays for us continuously. This is something ongoing.

John 13:36 ^NASB “Simon Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, where are You going?’ Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later. [37] Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.’ [38] Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times’.”