113. Beginner Bible Course: Jesus' final hours with his disciples

EPISODE 113:  A simple Bible overview of... JESUS’ FINAL HOUR WITH HIS DISCIPLES (I AM THE WAY…I AM THE VINE)

When my mother was in her

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Eighties, she moved to an assisted living community. Good shepherd men was that aptly named. It was subsidized by a Christian denomination. It was safe, warm, and loving a real community. My mother had a cozy little one bedroom apartment at the end of the East wing, but I think she spent the bulk of her time visiting her neighbors and hanging out in the community room. My sister lived just up the street and would spend every morning with my mom right around Christmas. In 2006, my sister noticed there was something different about mom as they were having coffee. She asked mom what's going on. Mom had a sense. She wasn't going to be in that safe, cozy little apartment, a good shepherd, much longer.

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What's up, mom, do you think you're going to go home to be with Jesus soon? My mom's eyes sparkled. She said, yes. I think so. My sister asked by Christmas, she said, no mom Hubba by your birthday, February 21st mom, again, paused and said, I don't think so. How about by Easter mom said, I think I'm going to be with Jesus by Easter. She didn't have any real health problems. She just had a sense. She put up a little sign in the window by her door that faced the common hallway. It said, simply this meet me at home. On March 13th, I was at a parent teacher conference for two of her grandkids.

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That's when I got the call. Mom had had a massive stroke there in her cozy little one bedroom apartment, my six siblings and I were soon at her bedside. The neurologist said she'll never be able to swallow again. Mom had made her wishes known and it would only be a matter of days before she was with Jesus. The seven of us, her children stood watch. My last hour with mama was two days before she died. She was very much present. I hopped up onto her bed next to her, and we had an amazing conversation. I'd start a Bible verse and she'd finish it. I'd say goofy things that always made her laugh and she laughed.

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I just soaked in that last hour with mama. She faded peacefully and took her last breath on March 26th. Easter was April 8th that year. In this episode, we look at Jesus' last hour with his beloved disciples. He's already washed their feet, celebrated the first communion with them and told them about the new covenant and the amazing gift. The helper, the Holy spirit that would be coming. And in some ways, Jesus posted a meet me at home, sign in the window. Like my mama, John records this for us in chapter 14, don't let your heart be troubled.

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Believe in God. And believe in me in my father's house, there are many rooms, man. Sounds like good shepherd. I go to prepare a place for you. And when I have, I will return and receive you to myself, that where I am, you may be also, if you've been told you get a mansion of your own in heaven, forget it. Jesus is preparing a good shepherd like community for you. It's a room in his father's group, home, a room I'm guessing without a door, a room that's perfectly designed for you, but I'm thinking we'll spend most of our time in the halls or the community room.

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Jesus tells us disciples, you know, the way it's at this point, Thomas speaks up rabbi Jesus. We don't know where you're going. How can we know the way Jesus then gives us the sixth? I am statement in the gospel of John. I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father. But through me, this sounds similar to his, I am the door, the sheep. We looked at that in episode one Oh four John's gospel, chapter 10, Jesus used the imagery of a sheep, fold, not a mini room to mansion. He said to his disciples, I'm the only door to that sheep. Fold my sheep, hear my voice and enter that fold in that fold.

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I care for them. I'll nourish them and protect them. Even at the cost of my life. We learned in that episode, once the sheep were safe, the shepherd would lie across the door. Now in the upper room in his last hour, Jesus says he's the road to his father's many room to mansion. He's the only road to life and the directions he gives our truth. Now we should back up a few moments prior to Jesus talking about his father's many room dimension between Jesus describing the new covenant in his shed, blood and this conversation about his fathers, many room dimension, something happens with the disciples. They broke out into an argument over who would be the greatest among them.

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I can't help, but wonder in that room with my mother during her last days, hospice, how she would have felt listening to us siblings argue about which of us was the most important or greatest of her kids that had the wound rabbi Jesus at the deepest level. And one more thing happens. Jesus sets up is my father's mini room mansion. Talk by saying this I'm about to go away and you can't follow me, but I will come and get you at this Simon. Peter speaks up, Lord, why can't I follow you? Now I'm willing to lay down my life for you. Jesus replies to him, Peter, right now, Satan is sifting. You like wheat and I'm praying for you, but here's the deal, Pete, you're going to fail, but she'll come around.

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Peter doubles down. Lord. I'm willing to go to prison and to death for, you know, Pete, you won't even make it till morning before you deny me. Since I'm on the topic of heartache, let's do one more right after Jesus gives his the way the truth and the life statement to Thomas than the cycles. Philip blurt something out. Lord, show us the father. And we'll be satisfied. He's saying we want to know who God is and what he looks like. You got to wonder if Jesus played back the tape in his head of the previous three years with these disciples, what more could he do to reveal God to these men?

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I can almost hear his voice breakup. As he says, Phillip, have I been with you so long that you don't know me? He was seen me has seen the father. How can you even say, show us the father? Don't you believe that I'm in the father and the father is in me. Don't you believe? My words were the words of the father. Don't you believe my works were from the father and reveal the father to you with that as a backdrop. How do you think Jesus is going to spend the last hour he has with all of his disciples before he dies? I'm guessing the answer would be pretty much the same thing you would do. If you had your loved ones around you with an hour to live.

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I know what I do. If I had my wife and kids around me with my hour ticking down, I'd let them know how much I love them. That's exactly what Jesus does, guys. You're my friends. There's no greater love than this. That I lay down my life for a friend. And you're my friends. Not only that my father loves you. Jesus definitely wants them to know just how very much they're loved with an hour to live. I challenged them to look out for each other, to stay together as a family in Jesus' last hour, Jesus repeatedly urges them to be United, to be one, even as he and the father are one I'd want to let my family know, life is not going to be easy.

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It's a broken world and we're broken ourselves. So I'd want them to have grit with grit. They could handle anything. Life throws at them and I'd want them to know they had the ability to be gritty. And if they did good things were waiting for them at the end. And that's what Jesus says to his disciples. Work on your grit. When you witness what they're about to do to me, the son of man be assured they'll do it to you. His apprentices, Jesus lays out just how gritty they'll need to be. They'll drag you before rulers and into synagogues. They'll even take your life and through it all they'll believe they're doing God a favor, but be of good cheer.

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I'm greater than anything they can throw at you. I'll be with you all the way and you will experience joy. I can't quite describe through the process. I'd also urge my family do the right thing to live fairly, to love mercy and to walk in humility. Those are the right things. The godly things make those God things. The rudder of your life in a word, be ruthlessly obedient to God things there in Jesus' last hour. He makes a strong plea to his disciples to do the right thing, to keep his commandments. The one who has my commandments and keeps them. He's the one who loves me.

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And the one who loves me will be loved by my father. And I will love him and reveal myself to him and tying into his vine imagery. He says, if you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love just as I have kept my father's commandments and remain in his love Jesus pleads with his disciples to demonstrate love for he and the father, and to grow in that love by doing the right thing. God's things, the words the son of God had given them to do. And before my family could leave the room, I'd pray for them. The gospel writer, John records, an entire chapter of the prayer of Jesus over these beloved men.

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I'm coming back to that. Jesus has one last am statement to make before he dies. You get the idea. He saved this one for last on purpose. He says this, my father is the gardener. I am the vine and you are the branches. My father is very diligent to care for the branches that they might bear much fruit. A branch can only bear fruit. If it's nourished and attached to the vine, a branch attached to the vine and being nourished by it bears much fruit, but a branch disconnected from the vine can do nothing at all. It Withers and is only good for kindling.

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If you, the branches abide in me and my words abide in you, you won't believe just how great the fruit can be. A great harvest of fruit demonstrates that you're my apprentices. And it brings great glory to the father. This imagery of we, the branches being intimately attached to Jesus, the vine, along with Jesus imagery of joining him in the yolk that we talked about in episode 89, our two word pictures, I hope burrow into the fur of your soul. With the imagery of the yolk. Jesus invited us to a side by side, intimate apprenticeship with him in a custom made yoke.

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He would provide the direction and most of the power we would follow his direction and do our part. And over time we would learn from him. We would become more like him. And now with Jesus imagery of the vine, Jesus is calling us to daily moment by moment, stay intimately connected with him and draw our very vitality from him, producing fruit, transform character and impacting others. Both of which deeply glorify the father. Thanks to the gospel writer. John, we're able to listen in on Jesus' prayer over his men. He begins by asking God that everything that will happen in the hours of head will bring glory to God.

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Jesus then prays for the protection of his disciples. Then that God may produce great fruit in their lives. He prays that they will understand just how deeply they're loved by God, the father and Jesus, the son, Jesus prays several times that they might be one unified, even perfected in their unity. And that that unity would be a proof. The world could not ignore. And in case you're listening to this and drifting a little, Jesus says one more thing in this last hour, prayer it's in John chapter 17, verse 20, Jesus prays this. I do not ask on behalf of these men alone, but for those also who believe in me through their testimony, if you're listening to this and are a follower of Jesus, that would be you.

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Jesus prayed all these things for you. John chapters, 13 through 17 are often labeled the upper room discourse, a fancy word for Jesus talked the last night in the upper room. We get a clue in John 1431, that part of this talk may have been done on the way to the garden of <inaudible> before the I am the vine metaphor, Jesus tells his disciples arise. Let's go from here. So it's possible. Part of this chat was in the upper room and part of this chat was on the way to a place called the garden of <inaudible> who knows, knowing rabbi Jesus, the master teacher. He may have stopped at a grapevine somewhere to give that I'm the vine.

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You are the branches talk. It's likely he'll be arrested by a mob within an hour and convicted by the religious rulers by sunrise. We're going to take a look at what happened that next hour in the garden of Cassini and throughout that night shackled in the homes of Annas and Caiaphas in our next wordpicture.