Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
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The Questions
John 14:9-26
Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.
12 “Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.13 Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you.21 The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him.”
22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it you’re going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 The one who doesn’t love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.
25 “I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.
Original Intent
1) Why was Philip seemingly unable to grasp the idea of knowing Jesus since he had followed Jesus for three years? (verse 9)
In Philip’s day, he was living in the uncomfortable space between the Old Testament laws, traditions, and prophecies, and the current, fulfilling reality of the New Testament. For thousands of years before Phillip, Yahweh, the Lord God, the Father, was the only aspect of God Philip knew or could relate to. Though Jesus, God the Son, is also eternal and had been present for all eternity along with God the Father (Colossians 1:15-18), Philip felt stuck in this mystery as he grappled with all that Jesus was teaching and begged, “show us the Father, and that is enough for us!”. (verse 8)
Jesus responded with radical truth as He unveiled Himself to Philip saying, “The one who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (verse 9)
Philip had a deep desire to experience God for Himself and was working to bridge the gap between what he knew from the Old Testament and what he was experiencing everyday with Jesus. How could it be that God the Father and Jesus were the same?! God the Father was much too holy to become flesh. Surely not! Jesus’ response in verse 10 continues clarifying for Philip as Jesus describes the relationship between Father and Son, ”I am in the Father, and …. The Father is in me.” Because both God the Son and God the Father are 2 persons of the very same all-consuming Almighty, Jesus could say, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.” To know Jesus is to know the Father! Jesus is the exact expression of God the Father’s nature! (Hebrews 1:3)
2) What did Jesus mean in saying He would do “anything” we ask of Him? (verse 14)
Perhaps we can understand this best, by explaining what Jesus did not say. Jesus didn’t say, “all your prayers will be granted” as if He were a Grand Genie. Rather, He said, “if you ask Me anything in My Name, I will do it.” IN HIS NAME are not just words to close out a prayer, but have a purpose rooted deeply in the heart of God, His character, and His will. Praying in a selfish, demanding context without a heart attitude that seeks to glorify God cannot truly be submissive to the Father. To earnestly pray with “Thy will be done” attitude, means we are bringing ourselves and our requests under the beautiful, all-wise, all-loving arch of a God who pursues and loves us beyond measure. We understanding that, while God invites to come and ask, and ask boldly, we are also invited to pray with a faith that says, “But God, You are good, and You are wise, and You know what is best. I will choose to trust You over me.” ”In Jesus’ Name” is not a magical charm like Aladdin’s Lamp, rather it’s a call to enjoy the beauty of a trusting relationship between God and us, as His beloved. In prayer, we call on Him to work out His purpose, not simply gratify our whims. “The answer is promised so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. Our obedience to him will be the test of our love.“ (Barclay)
3) What is the purpose or function of the Holy Spirit?
Jesus was preparing the disciples for His departure. His absence would make it more difficult to comprehend the person of the Father whom Jesus represented. In His place, He promised to send the Holy Spirit as the Counselor for all who believe. (verses 16-17, Ephesians 1:13) The word “counselor” in the Greek (the original language of the New Testament) literally means “a person summoned to one’s aid” ( M.C. Tenney). In 1 John 2:1, the same word is translated “advocate” and applied to Jesus as “the one who speaks to the Father in our defense”.
The Spirit’s role is to represent God to the believer just as Jesus did in His physical state. Jesus said He would not leave us as orphans, abandoned and alone. Rather, He would send the Spirit to indwell believers and bring together the relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit with us. The triune godhead is united in singular purpose and operation by creating a new intimate relationship between God and Believers. Furthermore, “the Spirit’s coming would be a confirmation of Jesus exaltation to the Father’s right hand to begin his present ministry as Advocate and Intercessor.“ (M.C Tenney) (John 15:26, Acts 2:33, 5:31-32)
Everyday Application
1) Why was Philip seemingly unable to grasp the idea of knowing Jesus since he had followed Jesus for three years? (verse 9)
In Philip’s humanity, he wanted to really “SEE” God with his physical eyes. Philip wanted a visible manifestation of God like what had been granted to Moses in the Old Testament. (Exodus 24:9-11, 33:18) Philip did not realize Jesus and God were one to which, Jesus administers a tender rebuke, ”Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip?” (verses 9-10) Jesus was delivering precisely what Philip was asking; He was the fullness of God wrapped in flesh. As John, another eye-witness disciple for those 3 years with Jesus, records, “What was from the beginning, (Jesus’ eternal nature) what we have heard (in Jesus’ teaching), what we have seen with our eyes (in Jesus’ physical body), what we have observed (in Jesus’ miracles and crucifixion) and have touched with our hands (in the resurrected Jesus), concerning the word of life (Jesus Himself) — that life (God in His fullness) was revealed, and we have seen it (we have seen God through Jesus!) and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us.” Do you have questions and longings like Philip? Explore Jesus, His teachings, and His life as recorded by reliable eye-witness accounts in the gospels! Know and experience Him, and in the process, experience God!
2) What did Jesus mean in saying He would do “anything” we ask of Him? (verse 14)
Prayer is a very sacred and special connection between the believer and God. It isn’t simply “magical words” thrown to the sky or repeated from tradition, but conversation born from a relationship between us and God. Prayers unselfishly prayed in Jesus’ name are for one purpose: to glorify the Father. Through this conversational relationship, miracles happen, answers come, and the Kingdom is built “on earth as it is in Heaven”. (Matthew 6:10) This wasn’t just “good advice” from Jesus, the early Christians made this kind of relational, trusting, God-glorifying prayer part of their everyday life. (Acts 1:14, 4:31, 6:6, 16:25-34….and the list goes on!) Such prayers come from faith and are spoken as the Spirit leads, and are in accordance with God’s perfect will.
For us today it is the same. When we pray focusing on God and His Kingdom, making our requests known (Philippians 4:6) while submitting to God’s perfect will in the Name of Jesus, prayers are answered and God’s kingdom is built! We must be patient and know that in His perfect time, not ours, the answer will come. It may not be packaged the way we envision, but we know by faith His answer is perfect, wise, and good according to the Master’s plan. There is nothing better than that! The hymn “Count your Blessings” by Johnson Oatman declares, “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, count your many blessings, name them one by one, it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” In prayer, take time to give thanks for all He has done, see His hand, trust His goodness, and enjoy the relationship between you and the Lord! This is JOY!
3) What is the purpose or function of the Holy Spirit?
Jesus did not leave us, believers, to struggle with the Christian life alone. Our Counselor, the Holy Spirit, helps us cope with life, our everyday living and the stressors thereof. The Holy Spirit directs our decisions, counsels us, comforts us, convicts us of sin, reminds us of truth, and remains with us forever. He is the teacher that reminds us of all the things Jesus has taught and said. (John 14:25-31)
As Christians, we have been commissioned with the responsibility and honor of sharing the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ for salvation. (Matthew 28:19-20) While many of us balk in fear of this task, we have been equipped with the Holy Spirit who makes this difficult task possible! We encounter obstacles everyday whether in the check-out line, the doctor’s office, playing with our children, interacting with co-workers, or loving others in all aspects of our life’s journey. In each scenario, the Holy Spirit is ready to use our circumstances to build His Kingdom. We must be ready to “preach the Word…in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2), relying on the Spirit to guide, direct, and enable us to share the hope of Christ.
A person who has not surrendered their life to Christ by faith, cannot experience the fullness of Holy Spirit or the comforts and guidance He brings. The Holy Spirit crashes no heart, He waits to be received by a willing soul.
The Holy Spirit changes defeated living to VICTORIOUS Living. Be a VICTOR, walk in love through the power of God’s Spirit who enables believers to have fellowship with the Holy One. You are always safe in His presence!
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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