April 12th
Jesus’ Last Words before His Death
People generally have a desire to see their loved ones for the last time before they pass away. There are things that they would like to say to them. Often we term this as ‘his last words’.
Similarly before Jesus passed on from this earth, He knew His time had come and He was going to die and go back to be with the Father. Jesus mentioned this in four chapters in the book of John.
John 14:2-4
2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know. NKJV
John 15:26-27
26 But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning. NKJV
John 16:16
16 A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father. NKJV
John 17:11
11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. NKJV
Chapters 14,15,16 and 17 contained the last words of Jesus before He went to the cross. The last words of someone before he dies are matters that he wants those alive to remember. The last words of Jesus before He died on the cross must be of utmost importance that He wanted His disciples to take heed to and not to neglect; in other words, not to forget. His last words are something Jesus placed His most emphasis on. It is something He reiterated and which we should not take our eyes off. If we disregard it, it will be to our own detriment. His last words are significant and have a bearing on the future of His Church after His death.
What were His last words? When we study the Book of John chapters 14,15,16, and 17 we will notice Jesus spoke on
1. Love and
2. The Holy Spirit
The Commandment of Love
In chapter 14 of the book of John, before He died on the cross, Jesus said He came to reveal the Heavenly Father and His love to the whole world. He commanded His disciples to keep His commandments if they love Him. No one can say they love Jesus and the Father without keeping the commandments of God. Love is not an emotional thing; love is an action word. Jesus said in verse 15, ‘If you love me, keep my commandments.’ There is no other way to love Jesus and to love God. If we truly love Him, who died for us, then our hearts should have this unconscious desire to keep His commandments. This desire becomes part of us. It becomes an unconscious desire – it becomes the natural part of our spirit. Then Jesus went on to say in verse 21, that He would manifest Himself to them who keep His commandments.
One of His commandments is, ‘You must be born again’ (John 3:7). Then we will have the Father’s love and the Heavenly Father and the Son will abide in us by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
About the commandment of love, in verse 23, Jesus said it this way: He said, ‘If a man loves me he will keep my words…’ If we love Him then keep His Word. God’s Word is His commandment; God’s Word is God speaking to us.
In chapter 15 of the book of John, in verse 9, Jesus said that He and the Father loves us and admonishes us to continue in His love. How? In verse 10, Jesus used Himself as our example. Jesus said He abides in the Father’s love by keeping His commandments. Likewise, continue to abide in His love by keeping His commandments – there is simply no other way except by the way Jesus did it.
After stating that if we love Him, we are to keep His commandments, He then highlighted one of His important commandments in verse 12. He said His commandment is that we love one another as He had loved His disciples when He was on earth.
When we love the Father, the Lord Jesus and love one another, Jesus calls us His friends. We are His friends if we do all that He commanded us. We are to do all but He especially mentioned the commandment of loving one another. He said it in verse 12 and again in verse 17 of chapter 15.
Jesus said to His disciples in verse 15 that He had made known to them all things that the Father told Him when He was on earth. This is the kind of friend Jesus is to us if we love the Father, if we love Him and we love one another. If there is something you need to know then your friend, Jesus, will make it known to you. Nothing is going to happen to you that will affect you adversely without your friend first telling it to you. A servant may not know what his lord does; but we are not just His servant, He is our friend if we keep His commandment of love.
When we love Jesus by keeping His commandments we will bear fruit. And Jesus said in verse 16, ‘…whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it you.’
Finally in chapter 16 verse 27, Jesus said that the Father loves us because we love Jesus. And in chapter 17 verse 23, Jesus prayed that the world may know that the Father loves us just as He loves Jesus.
There is no greater love than the love of the Heavenly Father upon His children.
We are His beloved children.
