2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES
Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
March 18, 2026
John 15:13-Chapter 16:12
Verses 13-17. Jesus says that the ultimate example of this kind of sacrificial love is dying for a friend. Jesus then says to the disciples that they are his friends if they do his commands and abide in him. He tells them that he no longer considers them servants, that are below him, but friends that are with Him. We are friends of God. This friendship with God is about relationship. A relationship that allows for access to God's storehouse. Jesus says because they are friends of God, they can ask God for anything. That is what friends do. If a friend has it and you need it, it is just like you have it. Up till now, there was a sense in which disciples were more like slaves than friends. It was not because Jesus was treating them unkindly, but because they were incapable of being anything else. A "friend" is one with whom you share your thinking, your goals, your motivations, your reasons for doing things. The disciples were simply not able to understand any of these things, even though our Lord communicated many of them to His disciples. But now, with the coming of the Holy Spirit and their abiding in Him, He could openly disclose His plans and purposes, so that they knew not only what He was seeking to do, but how and why He was doing it. No longer were His disciples to be "in the dark;" they were to be fully enlightened as to what He was doing. Abiding in Christ intimately connects us with Christ, so that we not only draw life and strength from Him, but we also come to know His heart and mind. I would ask you to take note of the fact that both Abraham and Moses are called the friend of God. In both cases, God reveals things to His "friend" that He does not reveal to others. And in both cases, based on what God did reveal to His "friend," this "friend" petitioned God on behalf of others, and the petition was granted. He then tells them the command, for the third time, love one another!!! Why does Jesus keep on telling them to love one another. Because Love is the true sign of abiding in Christ. New command love as I have loved you, no greater love, remain in his Love, and love each other. Jesus is pressing his point, but too often the church misses the big picture.
Verses 18-21. Abiding in Christ has many benefits, but one of the painful side effects is that because the world hates our Lord, it will likewise hate us. Thus, the abiding in Christ which produces a love for the brethren also incites the hatred of unbelievers towards us. Our Lord's words to His disciples not only indicate that they will experience great persecution from "the world," they also explain just why this hostility will be unleashed on them. Abiding in Christ will result in the "fruit" of being Christ-like. Thus, when the world observes Jesus living in and through His disciples, unbelievers will respond to them just as they once responded to the Lord Jesus. When this happens, the disciples are to recall that the world hated their Master first. If those who followed Jesus were to abide in the world, rather than to abide in Christ, the world would embrace them as one of their own.
Verses 22-25. The reason for the persecution is the fact that abiding in Christ points out the sin of those who aren't abiding in Christ. This conviction of sin causes animosity and persecution. Jesus frequently highlighted the hypocrisy of the religious elite and that fostered a hate in them for Christ. That hate would translate toward the disciples of Christ. Jesus shares that they refused to believe in him despite the signs he did among them. Even though they were convicted of sin, they refused to believe the miracles. Others were convicted but believed. Jesus makes the disciples aware that the psalmist predicted this in Psalm 35: 19 and 69:4 and the persecution was a fulfillment of scripture.
Verses 26-27. Jesus shifts gears from persecution and his death to the Holy Spirit. Jesus was giving the disciples some difficult truths to take in. The ministry of His Spirit, who will not only give His disciples joy amid their afflictions, but who will enable them to witness and to reap a harvest of souls from among those who hate both Jesus and those who abide in Him. He counters the difficulties with the promise and presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, called the Spirit of Truth, due to the role the Spirit would play in making sure the gospel is preached. The gospel being the truth of Christ as savior of the world. The only way the disciples will be able to stand up under the trials and tribulations will be through the strength of the Holy Spirit. How can Jesus possibly expect His disciples to testify to the world with all this hostility and persecution? He gives them and us the answer. He will send His Holy Spirit, who will testify about Christ through them. The disciples have been with Jesus since the beginning of His ministry, and thus they have witnessed the hand of God on His life and ministry. As they testify about Him, the Holy Spirit will facilitate their witness of the faith.
Chapter 16:1-4. Jesus shares that he has told the disciples about the pain of persecution and the coming presence of the Holy Spirit so the disciples can be ready when the time comes. He tells them how hard it will be and how people will think persecuting the disciples was a service to God (i.e Paul). Jesus said he didn't tell them this at the beginning because they would not have been able to handle it. But the time to tell them is at hand.
Verses 4-6. Earlier in His ministry, Jesus had warned the disciples generally about coming persecution, but there was no need then to be as specific as He is now. He was with them then. He will not be with them physically when they undergo the persecution of which He now speaks. He will be with them "in the Spirit." The disciples appear to be in a state of emotional shock. They are overwhelmed with sadness. There seems to be nothing to say. Jesus notes the fact that His disciples are not asking Him where He is going. Earlier, Peter did ask (13:36), and Thomas came close to asking (14:5). It is not that they hadn't asked; it is that they have stopped asking. The more Jesus told them, the worse it seemed to get, and so the disciples chose to keep quiet. Jesus seems to be calling their quietness to their attention, perhaps gently rebuking them by doing so. They were so caught up in their own sorrow and their own sense of loss that they did not wish to consider anything else, anything beyond themselves.
7-11. Things are not nearly as bad as they seem to the disciples. Jesus assures them that what He is telling them is the truth. That is, He is assuring them that they will see His words of comfort come to pass in the future. Our Lord's "going away" is not only necessary, it is to their advantage. It is not that Jesus is abandoning them when He goes away, and that He is sending the Holy Spirit as a kind of consolation gift. He must go away, or the Holy Spirit cannot come. And when the Spirit does come, the disciples will see that they could never have had it better. Here, Jesus speaks specifically of the Holy Spirit as their Advocate. Our Advocate has an agenda. There are certain things to which He will testify as being true, and these are spelled out in verses 8-11. He proves the world wrong regarding sin, to righteousness, and to judgment.
First, the Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong concerning sin. What the world thinks is wrong is not what God sees and vice versa. The world thinks sin is right, and God's ways are evil. Jesus proves the world wrong in what is right and what is evil. The Holy Spirit will expose the hypocrisy in our hearts and point us to true righteousness.
Second, the Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong concerning righteousness, because Jesus is going to the Father and will be seen no longer. The Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong regarding righteousness. The Spirit exposes the human standards of goodness are flawed and the true righteousness is found only in Jesus. Jesus' resurrection is proof he is the most righteous and his ascension is the ultimate elevation as the standard of righteousness.
Third, the Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong concerning judgment. The world judges based on their standards, but the real standard is Christ. Human judgments are faulty, but God's judgment is true.
Verse 12. Jesus has much more to say to them, but this is not the time to do so. I would like to suggest that we often wish God would tell us all that He is doing, or is about to do, at the time we wish to know it. And yet how gracious God is to withhold from us those things we do not need to know, those things which would only cause us needless anguish if we did know them. Jesus withheld information from His disciples for their own good. It was another manifestation of His grace not to tell them all they wanted to know. God is gracious, both in what He reveals, and in what He conceals.
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