Holy Week: The Upper Room Discourse (Part 2)

John 15 records Jesus teaching that He is the true vine and His disciples are the branches. Those who abide in Him bear fruit, but apart from Him they can do nothing. The Father prunes the branches so they may bear more fruit. Jesus commands His disciples to remain in His love and to love one another. This passage shows that fruitfulness comes from abiding in Christ and keeping His commandments.

Transcript

Welcome And Passion Week Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:00

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SPEAKER_01 0:27

Hello, everyone. Welcome back. We are in day four on our uh Passion Week with uh David Klingler. My name's Tim Webb, our Teach Me the Bible Podcast. And David, we are well into this week, and as you've said, there's a lot happening in this week. But today we want to jump back into our uh upper room discourse, except now they've transitioned. What what's happening now?

Leaving The Upper Room

Jerusalem Geography To Gethsemane

Dr. David Klingler 0:50

Yeah, so the disciples, so Jesus has uh talked to them in the upper room. Now Judas Iscariot has left, and now uh Jesus is taking his disciples, and they're heading towards the Garden of Gethsemane. And so uh and so this uh week we're we're walking through uh some of the events, at least uh as John presents these uh this last uh these this last week of Christ. Just want to remind you that uh that uh uh that all of the gospels present so many different things that happen. These last days are just action-packed. There's so many parables that Jesus are teaching, um uh whole discourses. Uh, Jesus is doing a lot of teaching in these last few days. And uh uh, you know, we talk about the Olivet discourse that's in uh in uh the Gospel of Matthew, and and that happens during the last week. So there's a lot of things that's going on. But but what we've been talking about in the in the gospel of John is that the word became flesh, tabernacle among the disciples. Uh now in chapter 13, Jesus has washed their feet, he has made them clean, he is preparing them to go and tend his sheep, feed his sheep, uh and uh and so we're right uh in the middle of it. And and uh so Jesus continues uh at the last verse of chapter uh chapter 14, arise, let us go from here. And so now they're they're walking, and if you've been to Israel, you know, uh we we're from Texas, you know, we're down here in Texas, and I remember the first time I went to Israel, I'm thinking, uh, you know, I don't know, the arise, let us go from here, and you know, four days later he gets back or something. And um, I remember the first time I was at uh uh at the the uh the Beatitudes, you know, where Jesus uh preached the Sermon on the Mount. And then that's chapters five through seven of Matthew, and then you get to chapter eight, and he's in Capernaum, right? Um, and uh and I thought, well, you know, I it never occurred to me how far that might be. Well, it's not far at all. I mean, it's just you know, literally hundreds of, you know, it's it's just measured in yards or meters. You wouldn't measure it in in even miles. It's it's not uh it's not far. So everything is is really close. And so the upper room would have been just if we're sitting on the southern steps of Temple Mount watching this, it would be, you know, kind of over to your west, just a little bit, you know, not to very far at all. You know, it's it's a pretty short walk. And then Jesus would have come, maybe walked right across the the southern steps of uh of Temple Mount as he as he went down across the Kidron Valley, down across the valley and up uh into this uh bottom of the uh of this next hill that's over. Um, you know, it's the bottom of the ravine, and and uh and now you're in this garden. It's the garden of Gethsemane. Uh it's an olive garden, and at the top of that uh hill is the called the Mount of Olives. And so so everything's happening here really closely. And so Jesus is walking and he's explaining, I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. Now, uh Jesus has explained to them uh in the book, you know, in Jesus' ministry, what bearing fruit in, and what the reader's supposed to understand uh from bearing fruit in the got in the gospel of John goes all the way back to chapter four. This is what Jesus encountered with the uh with the Samaritan woman. Uh and uh and he uh tells her uh who he is, and she goes and she tells others, and they return, and and the disciples show back up. Uh, and uh Jesus instructs them, and he says, Already he who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For um in this case the saying is true: one sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap for that which you have not labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. And so uh not only has Jesus been sowing, but the Old Testament prophets have been sowing, and they've been talking about this Christ and and the whole Old Testament is looking for this one to come, and John the Baptist is saying, this is this is the one, you know, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the one who gives eternal life. And and now the disciples are taking their spot and they're entering into their position, uh, their place where they're going to proclaim this to us. And uh and so they're the they're to abide in Christ. He's the one who has eternal life. Uh, and uh if they abide in him, they will bear fruit for eternal life, they will share the gospel, and others will believe it and bear fruit for eternal life. Of course, the problem in this story is uh after his death, burial, resurrection, they're back fishing.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

Right.

The True Vine And Fruit

Lift Up Or Cut Off

Hated By The World

Jesus Prays For Unity

Resurrection Hope And Closing

Dr. David Klingler 5:12

They're fishing for fish rather than fishing for men. You know, that's really not the gospel of John, but nonetheless, it's uh, you know, it's really ironic that that's what they're doing. But but he says, every branch in me, and so uh Jesus um is talking to his disciples, I am uh the true vine, my father is the vine tresser uh uh vine dresser, every branch in me that does not bear fruit. Uh and then the New American Standard translates this. He arrow, uh they translate arrow, he lifts up. Uh that's literally what it means. They translate it as takeaway. Um as if it's takeaway for judgment, something like that. Well, that that could be, but less uh but you but you've got to read it. Uh any vine dresser, uh anyone who's done any uh, you know, uh a vine that's laying on the ground won't bear fruit. It needs to be lifted up to the light, it needs to be shown the light, right? Uh and then every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it. Uh literally, he cleanses it. He he prunes it so that it may bear bore fruit, right? And so um pruning is you know, you would cut it and take it away. No, uh it it Jesus' desire for them is to bear fruit, bear fruit for eternal life. He's entrusted them with the word, the words of the Father given to him. Now he's sending them out. And if they're not bearing fruit, they need to be lifted up, right? Uh now, uh, is there someone in this story that's going to need to be lifted up because he wasn't bearing fruit? It's the one who's going to deny Jesus three times and and he's disheartened. And John's going to bring that up. Yeah, and uh and Jesus is going to come to Peter and he's going to lift him up so that he will bear fruit for eternal life. And he sure does. I mean, as we read later in the story, Peter does, right? And so every tree in me that does not bear fruit, uh, he lifts up, and every uh branch that uh that bears fruit, he prunes it, that it may be bore fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. A branch can uh as a branch cannot bear fruit in itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. The source of eternal life, which comes from the Father, is through the Son, through the words of the apostles, I am the vine, and y'all are the branches. If you disciples abide in me, Jesus says, uh, and I in you, and I in him, he bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up, uh, and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and they're burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. By this my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so you prove to be my disciples. Um there is one in this group uh of these disciples that's not going to bear fruit, and that's uh, of course, uh uh Judas isn't going to bear fruit. And the question is, are these others? And and really it hangs in doubt on the other side of this when uh you know with Peter, right? But Peter's going to be encouraged, he's going to be lifted up. Um and so there, they're Jesus, uh Peter's gonna make all kinds of bold claims. Yes, but we're gonna see if he's gonna uh I'll go with you wherever, I'll die for you and all this stuff. Will you really? Well, we're gonna see, right? And so uh and so um uh the father is glorified uh that you disciples bear much fruit. So you prove to me my disciples. Now, uh this sounds like it's uh the whole thing's hanging in doubt. Well, let me let me uh go ahead and ruin the story for you in the suspense. Uh we're sitting here because the disciples uh they they brought forth much fruit. Yes. Uh they uh proclaimed the gospel, others believe the gospel. That gospel's hand been handed down, and now throughout the whole world, there are people who are have believed in the words of the apostles, the words of John, which are the words of Jesus, which are the words of the Father, and through believing in those words, they have eternal life. We have eternal life because of the Son who was raised from the dead. And so Jesus is explaining to them uh what what uh is going to lay in front of them. Now, uh this is going to be good instruction for them, right? Um, this thing, these things they will do to you in my name, because they do not know the one who sent me. They're going to make you outcast in the synagogue, they're going to persecute you, the world's going to hate you. Uh they're going to make you uh you know, they're the world hated me, the world will hate you. Fear not, I've overcome the world, right? And and that uh that reality is going to continue with the word all the way down from the very beginning of the Bible to the very end of the Bible. There's two sides, they're very distinct sides, right? Uh and the relationship between the two is entity, they're enemies, right? Uh and so Christ is the seed of the woman, the promised one who has come, and he has given his words, the words of eternal life, to his disciples. And so he is pro uh they have demonstrated that they are they've identified themselves with Christ. Now, for us today, don't be shocked. If when you identify with the Lord, when you identify with the word of the Lord, the disciples' words, the words of the apostles and prophets, shall be persecuted. The world hates Christ, always has. Uh, you know, Satan uh is not a fan of Jesus. Those who align themselves with Satan and his his uh deeds are not uh a fan of Jesus or of the church, but fear not. There's nothing to fear, right? Right? Uh and so uh in chapter 17, then Jesus turns to his prayer. And I uh of all of the passages that uh just encourage me, uh this one is certainly uh is certainly one, uh he's praying for to his for his disciples, to the father, right? The hour has come. Glorify your son, Jesus praying to his father, even as you have given uh him, uh the Son of God uh Son of Man authority over all mankind, to all that you have given to me, he may give eternal life, and this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God in Jesus uh Christ, whom you have sent. I have glorified you while on earth. Having accomplished the work which you have given me to do, I have revealed you to my disciples. The ones you gave me, they were in the world, I took them out of the world, I've given you uh given them your word, that word has made them clean, he's going to explain uh in these following verses. And now uh I have given them your word, picking up in chapter 17, verse 14, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I'm not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I'm not of the world. Set them apart in truth, for your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so also I send them into the world, and for their sakes I set myself apart, that they may also be set apart in truth. I do not ask, this is my f one of my favorite verses in the new. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those who will believe in me through their word. The ministry of the Spirit comes to the disciples. Uh it helps them call to remembrance all that Jesus said and did, and they write down those words, they proclaim those words, those words have been handed down generation after generation, faithful men, teaching faithful men who are all the way down through the church, and now the word has come to us. And so Jesus in chapter 17, verse 20, is praying not only for his disciples, but for all of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As much as I love verse 20, uh I'm discouraged by verse 21, right? That the church has not uh come together. And the reason why the unity of the church, not in some kind of pseudo, let's all hold hands and sing kumba, yeah, but but that we may all be one in Christ, that the that the cr that the body of Christ may be one, so that there's there's several so that's that that follow here, uh that they may all be one, even as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, that they may be in us, so that one, the world may believe that you sent me. If um if the church isn't unified, if if we don't love one another as Christ loved us, the world will know that you are my disciples by the way that you love one another. If we don't do that, then one of the ramifications is that uh that the world will not believe that the Father sent the Son. Uh verse uh twenty-two, and the glory which you have given to me, I've given to them. The word that you've given to me, I've given to them, the life that you've given to me, I've given them, so that they may be one as we are one. I and them, and you and me, that they may be perfected in unity. Here's another so that. Yeah so that the world may know that you sent me, and that you love them, and that you love me. There's three, right? If the church does not demonstrate the love of the Lord towards one another, there are ramifications. Then the world will not know that the father sent the son, the world will not know that the father loves them, and the world will not know that the father loves the son. So is our witness, is our love for one another, our unity in the body of Christ important? It certainly is. And uh and so um coming out of this uh of this death, burial, resurrection of Christ, the thing that's going to unify the believers is their uh belief in the Son, uh resurrection of the dead, eternal life, and they're going to be put into one body, right? And so if there was ever a time uh that uh uh that we need to come together as the church, it's over this Easter. The thing that we have in common, right? We can debate about all kinds of theological issues. Um, but the resurrection, the death, burial, resurrection of Christ, and because of his resurrection, it is our hope. It is our only hope. And that ought to unite us. And if that unites us, then there's ramifications for that. We'll love one another, we'll care for one another, we'll bear one another's birds, we'll pray for one another. All of these imperatives that come throughout the New Testament are founded on the resurrection of Christ. There is nothing more important than the scriptures in all of the scriptures. If there's no resurrection, we can take all 66 books and throw it away. Right. Right. If there's no resurrection, Christmas doesn't matter. If there's no resurrection, there are a bunch of people that walked onto the scene and claimed that they were the Christ and in fact weren't. But the resurrection demonstrates that he is the one. And because he has life through resurrection, so also shall we. That ought to change everything. It should. But unfortunately, uh, we find ways uh to have divisions in the body. Yeah. And uh, and so Jesus praying for his disciples, praying for this word, the word which gives life, he's given to his disciples, and it's been handed down, and so now we're the recipients of it. Every generation in the church uh has been entrusted with the word of the Lord. Uh will the church operate on the words of the apostles and prophets, or will we come up with our own words, our own desires, do what's right in our eyes, and try to justify it? Uh, and and so now it's our turn to walk faithfully uh and to keep the word of the Lord as it was handed down to the uh through the apostles and prophets, the word that gives eternal life.

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Amen. Well, David, thank you. As we uh wrapping up day four, getting closer to the crucifixion, uh this excitement or enthusiasm as we're moving towards the resurrection, but at the same time, there's this there's this split, if you will, because as as we're reading through this, and you mentioned the church, uh Paul writes in different places where he was weeping over those who walked away. He's weeping over his brethren who have not believed. And so I do want to celebrate by all means, but it also ought to change our prayer life. Absolutely. You know, that as a church and focus us in. So I just want to encourage everyone to stay in there with us and thank you for another day, David. Look forward to tomorrow. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

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