Jesus Teaches us About
The Ministry of the Holy Spirit
John 14:7-31
John 14 was spoken during the Last Supper. At the end of the chapter, Jesus said, “Arise, let us go from here” (John 14:31 NKJV). The next two chapters were spoken as Jesus and His disciples walked to a remote, quiet area known as the garden of Gethsemane before His arrest and crucifixion This is the location where the longest prayer of Jesus is recorded in John 17.
This makes John 14-17, the last instruction that Jesus personally spoke to his disciples, while on earth as their companion and their Lord. Thus, this instruction should carry a sacred place—a saving place—in the hearts of all who “love the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 16:22).
John 14-17 is the longest dialog Jesus gave in one setting. It consists of 123 verses, 2,840 words, making it longer than the Sermon on the Mount with only 111 verses. The personal pronoun YOU Jesus used over 200 times. This should tell us that Jesus intends us to personally apply His last instruction. It is spoken to believers, not the general crowds that often surrounded Jesus.\
In this study, we are primarily interested in what Jesus taught us about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. This is why we started this study at verse 7.
To God be the glory in all we teach, “so that the Father may be glorified [honored] in the Son” (14:13).
John 14:7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him [God] and have seen Him [the Father God]. NIV
14:17 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. NKJV
John 14:7 (Amplified Reflection): If you had really known me, you would have known and seen my Father, at the same time you see Me. To see me and to know me personally, you also see and know the Father personally.
From Now On
From this point onward, the disciples must connect God and Jesus together, in harmony and in character. Jesus now becomes the clearest reflection of God, as known in the Old Testament. He amplifies and corrects all the earlier pictures of God in the Old Testament. Jesus is a complete picture of the character of God. Because Jesus knows all about His Father, since He is the Son of God.
Jesus Says, “If You Really Know Me”: The disciples could affirm that they do know Jesus, having seen Him, daily walked beside Him. Daily ate their meals with Him. Watched as He heal thousands with just a word or a touch. Daily listened to Him teach. They were free to ask Him any questions. They were with Him for over three years.
Jesus Says, “You Will Know My Father”: You will identify my actions, my character, my promises, as the same as if it were God speaking and daily walking beside you.
Jesus Says, “You Do Know Him”: God the Father was fully revealed and reflected through Me.
Jesus Says, “You Have Seen Him”: You have seen God the Father, since you first met me in the days of John the Baptist.
New Lessons to Learn
As the disciples look at Jesus. As they dialog in person with Him, standing beside them. Now they must also see the Father God’s words, deeds, actions of love. This is a big step for them to take. For the God of the Old Testament, was never seen in person.
They should remember what Jesus had previously declared, “Before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58). The existence of Jesus was not confined to his birth, through his Mother Mary.
One of the earliest lessons that the disciples learned was that this man, Jesus, was the Son of God. God the Father initiated Jesus’ public ministry with these words, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). This is a unique experience in all of human history.
Once Jesus asked his disciples who he was? Peter—quick to be first—boldly affirmed to them all: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:16). This was accepted, with no question when they saw Jesus heal in an instant thousands of people, and even with a word control the weather and raise the dead.
New Lesson on Love
In the prayer of Jesus, before his trial and resurrection, he affirmed to His Father, “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them” (John 17:26). This is a deeper lesson than understood previously since the creation of this world. Jesus came not only to reveal the love of God, which had largely been lost sight of in history. But Jesus also came to bring God’s love down to us, so that we can know it for ourselves.
The presence of God’s love in us, is the dynamic spirit of the Gospel, which is different than all other world religions that have ever existed.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I love you. Now remain [live, abide] in my love” (15:9).
The one who loves me will be loved by my Father” (14:21).
Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” (14:23).
“I have come so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me” (14:31)
“The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” (16:27).
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.” (17:24)
“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” (17:25,26)
Later: The Apostle Paul Explains the Divine Connection of Jesus
Later, all the Apostles were able to explain this mystery of seeing Jesus the man is also seeing God the Father. As Paul wrote to the Colossians, “The Son is the Image of the invisible God…For in him [the Son] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth…For God [the Father] was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in him [His Son]” (Col 1:15-19).
When we have faith in the Son of God—as he himself has all the fullness of God—we become part of God the Father’s embrace.
The Holy Spirit
Jesus has just given to us, the first introduction to the ministry of the Spirit. Jesus is speaking not only to His disciples, but all of us, as we read His words. We are promised that from now on, you do know Him [Father God]. This knowledge of God is made possible by the coming Spirit as explained repeatedly in John 14 and 15.
John 14:8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” NIV NKJV
14:8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be content. NET Bible
The Name of God the Father
The word Jesus used for God, as “Father,” was used 45 times in Matthew and 109 times in John. This was not a new concept for the disciples at this point. The religious leaders had made the Hebrew word for God, YHWH, so remote it could not be spoken out loud. Whereas Jesus made the word for God as common as a child in the arms of their mother calling one of their parents, father.
Later Paul wrote that through the influence of the “Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship, and by him we cry, ‘Abba Father’” (Rom 8:15). Some have translated it as “Dear Father.”
Most High God
Jesus knew that His disciples did understand He was the Son of the Most High God. As Isaiah describes God: “God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it” Isa 42:5). God was present in His vailed fulness in this man “born of a woman” (Gal 4:4), Jesus of Nazareth. As Paul later wrote, “god was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in him” (Col 1:19).
Jesus as a Young Boy
When Jesus came to His hometown where he was seen as an ordinary man, the son of Joseph and Mary. In the streets of His hometown, He healed every disease with a word or a touch. The people that knew Him were shocked and said: “And what is this wisdom that has been given to him? What are these miracles that are done through his hands? Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” And so, they took offense at him” (Mark 6:2-3). In other words, they may have refused to come to him for healing because they related to him as just a hometown boy.
Philip’s Request
Notice the ease Philip asked a question of Jesus. The atmosphere between Jesus and his disciples was pleasant, open and sociable, like a family around the dinner table. The disciples could interrupt Jesus with a question at any time. Had Jesus not given them the privilege, the honor, and the right to ask what was on their minds? Had Jesus not told them, “For everyone who asks receives” (Matt 7:8). “Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24). Faith by itself is evidence.
With in the next few minutes Jesus will reiterate this open invitation: “The Father himself loves you because you have love me… Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (John 16:27,24). We, too, should never hesitate to lay our request before Jesus and our Heavenly Father.
John 14:9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 14:10 Don’t you believe that I am in [ev] the Father, and that the Father is in [ev] me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living [menó] in [ev] me, who is doing His work[s]. 14:11 Believe me when I say that I am in [ev] the Father and the Father is in [ev] me; or at least believe [me] on the evidence of the works [miracles] themselves. NIV
14:9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 14:10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 14:11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. NKJV
14:9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you for so long, and you have not known me, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father! How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 14:10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father residing in me performs His miraculous deeds. 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, but if you do not believe me, believe because of the miraculous deeds themselves. NET Bible
God is in the Son and the Son is in the Father
The Greek word for in is en (ev). It is a preposition, meaning: “in, inside, within, in which something operates from the inside, denoting position.” It is used in three different ways.
· “I am in [en] the Father and the Father is in [en] me.” (14:10,11)
· “The is Father living in [en] me who is doing His works.” (14:10)
The Father is Living [menó] In Me (14:10)
The Greek word for living or dwelling is menó . It is a primary verb meaning, “to remain in a given place and abide there, to live, to continue, to dwell”. The Father was within and living the Son and His Son was inside the Father.
As believers in the Son of God, we do not have the Father in us, neither are we living in the Father, as was the case of Jesus, His Son. Instead, we are given the Holy Spirit, the Advocate-Comforter live with us and be in us (14:17). Through this means the Father and His Son make their “home” with us (14:23).
Later in this chapter we will gain a better understanding of how the Spirit abides-lives [meno] in us, like God the Father lived-abided [menó] in His Son.
“The Spirit of truth…lives [menó] in you” (14:17)
“Abide [menó] in Me, and I in you… unless it abides [menó] in the vine.” (15:4) NJJV
“No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain [menó] in the vine.” (15:4)
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain [menó] in me and I in you, y u will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (15:5)
“If you remain [menó] in me and my words remain [menó] in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (15:7)
“If you keep my commands, you will remain [menó] in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain [menó] in his love” (15:10).
The Father Is Living in Me
When Jesus spoke His words perfectly reflected God’s words because God was living His life through His Son. His words were a duet with God—so harmonized that we cannot tell one voice from the other.
The works of Jesus, his miracles and life example, were in perfect harmony with God the Father. Whatever we may have thought before about God, as seen in the Old Testament, we should correct that view, by looking at Jesus. There we seen a true picture of God, as Jesus prayed to His Father: “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God…” (John 17:3). We come to know God through looking, listening to Jesus and the through the ministry of the Spirit of God.
The Words of Jesus Carried Power and Authority:
Giving Evidence They were From God
In Jesus’ closing prayer of His ministry, He affirmed that he spoke the words that God had prepared for him to say. “For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them” (John 17:8). His words, his promises, his teachings, did not come from himself: they did not come from His study, they come directly from God the Father.
“If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world, there is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. (John 12:47,48). The words of Jesus, honored and valued in our lives, will cause us to bypass the day of Judgment. Cuts off.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). The words of Jesus, honored and valued in our lives, brings answers to prayers.
“Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’” (John 6:68). The words of Jesus, honored and valued in our lives, is our assurance of eternal life.
Jesus Answers Philip’s Question—In Detail
Jesus answers Philip with a question. A simple question: “Do you know me?” Philip’s quick response would be with a “Yes, I know you.” This would be the truth. He was among the privileged few since the last 2,000 years, to be alive during the time of Jesus’ ministry. He was among the very few, among the billions of Jesus’ followers, to be called his apostles. The men that followed closest to him, day after day, for a long time.
Yes, Philip knew Jesus—not just by faith, but by sight, touch, and hearing, seeing with his eyes and listening to him as he interacted with people in the towns they visited.
Jesus Responds to Philip
“Since you do know me,” Jesus responded to Philip, then, you should also know that there is no difference in myself or my origin from “the Holy One of Israel” (Isa 55:5). Jesus asked Philip to look past his physical form and see him as “God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18).
Was there evidence to sustain this claim? Yes—abundant overflowing evidence. He performed thousands of instant miracles, controlling the weather by his command, and fed massive crowds using a small boy’s lunch of bread and dried fish. Even the devils were forced to cry out in recognition: “I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (Mk 1:24). Jesus’ response was absolute control and the silencing of demons. All the forces of nature were subject to Him, as some observed, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matt 8:27).
The Disappointment of Jesus
After Philip had time to agree that he was the Son of God. Jesus opened his heart to Philip, so he could see a side of Jesus never before seen. Jesus was disappointed that Philip had not been able to recognize that the influences that surrounding Jesus were those only of God. Even Nicodemus, an outsider, realized early on that “no one could perform the signs [thousands of miracles] you are doing if God were not with him” (John 3:2).
Jesus Reveals His Real Connection with God
It was more than just God accompanying Jesus or being with Him. To see Jesus, is to see God in character. This is the only time God the Father has been born or made visible, in the whole history of humanity. Philip was slow in understanding this reality, we often are just as slow.
Don’t You Believe me, Philip?
Jesus is asking Philip a direct question, so that he could acknowledge his faith. He asks Philip to open his mind and heart to accept the clear truth—that Jesus was the Son of God. After Jesus with a single word stopped a terrible storm, “They said, ‘You really are the Son of God!’” (Matt 14:33 NIRV)
The Uniqueness of Jesus: He was the One and Only Son God
To see Jesus, is to see God. “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).
To hear Jesus speak, is to hear the voice of God. “I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me” (John 14:31).
Every word spoken by Jesus was given to him by God the Father. “For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken…So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say” (John 12:49,50).
Every miracle of Jesus was performed by God the Father. “By myself I can do nothing… I seek not to please myself but him who sent me” (John 5:30) and “I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38).
As Jesus was present with the disciples, so the Father was present with Jesus His Son. The Son knew it, could see it and feel his Father’s presence, in his every waking moment. Jesus could say, “I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. I always do what pleases him” (John 8:28.29).
As the Creator God lives forever in the heavens, lives in the body and soul of Jesus. God was veiled by the human form of Jesus. Only once did the disciples see his real physical body, when on the mountain, “He was transfigured [transformed] before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him” (Matt 17:2,3 NKJV).
The Father and the Son worked in perfect unison. So close that we could not see one without the other. Although united in ways past understanding, they are separate but together. “The Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John 5:29).
Jesus mirrored His Father’s actions. On Sabbath as Jesus was healing all the people where He was visiting. The temple leadership accused Him of working on the Sabbath, which was to them clearly unacceptable. Jesus answered them, “My Father is always doing his work. He is working right up to this day. I am working too” (John 5:16). Jesus justified his Sabbath work on the basis of what He knew God the Father, the God of Moses, Abraham and Jacob, was Himself working on the Sabbath. “For this reason, the Jewish leaders tried even harder to kill him. According to them, Jesus was not only breaking the law of the Sabbath day. He was even calling God his own Father. He was making himself equal with God” (John 5:18).
The Primary Sources to Know God
To truly, know and love God, our primary source material must be centered on:
The Gospel Story
The Birth, the life, and the teachings of Jesus
The letters of the Apostles
The witness of the Early Church in the Acts of Apostles
The Gospel to the Gentiles in the work of the Apostle Paul, affirmed by the apostles.
Through the New Testament lenses, we see the complete and final revelation of God. The Old Testament remains essential, supporting foundation that points forward to this final expression.
“I am in the Father and the Father is in me, believe [me] on the evidence of the works themselves.”
Mass Healing: “Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing.” Matt 15:30,31
Universal Restoration: Jesus healed, “every disease and sickness among the people.” Matt 4:23
The Touch of Faith: “They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They asked him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.” Mark 6:55-56
The Touch of His Garments: “And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him and asked him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.” Matt 14:35,36
Peter’s Mother-in-Law: Healed instantly of a severe fever. Matt 8:14-15
Healing Deaf-Mute of Decapolis: Given hearing and clear speech. Mark 7:31–37
Healing Man Born Blind at Birth: Given sight through the creative miracle of clay and a washing. John 9:1
The Invalid of Bethesda: Healed instantaneously after thirty-eight years of paralysis. John 5:1–9).
The Infirm Woman: Delivered from twelve years of painful, chronic internal bleeding by touching His garment. Matt 9:20–22
The Crippled Woman: Straightened up completely after eighteen years of being bent double. Luke 13:10–13
The Ten Lepers: Instantly cleansed of their debilitating disease while on their way to the priests. Luke 17:11–19
The Withered Hand: Fully restored in a public synagogue setting. Matt 12:9–13
The Widow's Son at Nain: Raised directly from his funeral bier, restoring joy to his mother. Luke 7:11–15
Malchus' Ear: Instantly healed and reattached during Jesus' arrest in the garden (Luke 22:50–51).
The Wedding at Cana: Turning water into choice wine, revealing His glory. John 2:1–11
Walking on the Sea: Defying gravity to reach His terrified disciples in a storm. Matt 14:22–33
Feeding the 5,000: Multiplying five loaves and two fish to feed an enormous crowd. Matt 14:13–21.
Feeding the 4,000: Multiplying seven loaves and a few small fish in the region of the Decapolis. Matt 15:29–39.
New Definition of Sin
Jesus shifts how we understand sin. He remarks later in the discourse, “If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin” (John 15:24). Because Jesus perfectly manifested the character and will of the Father, sin is no longer defined merely as breaking external rules or the Ten Commandments. From this point onward, the core definition of sin is clear: “About sin, because people do not believe in me” (John 16:9).
John 14:12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me [knows me] will do the works I have been doing, and they [all believers] will do even greater things than these [extent & outreach], because I am going to the Father.
14:13 And I will do whatever you ask [by faith] in my name, so that the Father may be glorified [honored] in the Son. 14:14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. NIV
14:12 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 14:13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14:14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. NKJV