The Gospel of John | Going On Our Behalf – John 13:31-38
The New Covenant that Jesus Christ is establishing takes the punishment of mankind of Himself so that we might be free to love and serve the Lord.
With the departure of Judas, the events were set in motion that would end with the death of Jesus Christ. At this point, everything began that would forever impact the world with which we live in as Jesus Christ willfully advanced to the cross to pave a way home. This section, between 13:31-16:33, comprise what is know as the Farewell Discourse where Jesus presents a final monologue of teaching and exhortation to the remaining disciples. Moving closer to His crucifixion, Jesus instills the disciples with the wisdom of His final teaching. This section would be a prolonged teaching with challenges from the disciples where we will see some of the clearest teachings and explanations of what would be to come for Jesus and for the disciples. While we have the benefit of hindsight during this process, the disciples attempted to interpret the coming death of Christ through the only way they knew how. They revered Him as a teacher and Rabbi but sought to avoid His death while seeking to understand the purpose of Christ work.
This first section of the Farewell Discourse establishes the work of Jesus Christ as having been fully established by and for the glory of God. Numerous times throughout the Gospel, Jesus made it clear that He did not do anything apart from the will of the Father. His presence serves as an extension of the will of the Father and they act in union with one another. God is one God in three persons, acting out of the perfection of unity and the expression of love. Thus, in this section of the discourse, Christ tells the disciples that He is going to a place they cannot go. The New Covenant would involve Jesus going on behalf of the people whom He came to save to go in their place. Peter, as he is often doing, failed to fully grasp the fullness of the works of Christ in this moment, wanting to go with Him and brazenly asserting his desire to take the punishment on Christ’s behalf. The New Covenant that Jesus Christ is establishing takes the punishment of mankind of Himself so that we might be free to love and serve the Lord. Where we were once marred by the decay of sin, Christ paves a way for our return to right standing with God.
Going On Our Behalf
The work of Jesus Christ came as an extension of the glory of God, being fully united with the Father. Christ’s work on the cross would only seek to glorify the Father and the God who took on flesh to save and redeem His beloved people. The consequences of sin and death would be absorbed and fully paid by Jesus Christ. Only God could simultaneously meet the righteous requirements of the law, bear the weight of the sins of mankind, and extend the grace to those who come to Him. It is significant to note that Jesus’ depiction of what He came to do meant going to a place that the disciples could not follow. If Peter accompanied Jesus Christ to bear the weight of the sins of mankind, the death would be justified. Peter’s sins, if attempted to be paid by Peter, would result in a justified death. The work of Christ, which the prophets had spoken of hundreds of years before, takes the place of mankind whose sin precluded any salvation apart from the grace of God.
The Christian following Jesus is united with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. The work of Christ as an atoning sacrifice, dying in our place, took the brutal punishment of death so that we might be free to pursue God with the fullness of our being. Christ went to the cross on our behalf, bearing the fullness of the weight and consequences of our sin that separated us form God. He went to the place that we could not fully bear to go so that we might go with Him as He returns to the Father and stands in the fullness of the glory of the Father. The mark of the Christian, then, having received the gift of grace, would be to love one another. This new command would distinguish the follower of Jesus Christ from the rest of the world. We do not seek to earn our standing with God or only work towards the good of those who can do something for them. The Christian who has submitted to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, loves others even if they do not deserve that love. Christ set that example for us first, choosing to love us when we were against Him as He took the fullness of the consequences of our sin upon Himself. In turn, we love others in this same way as we point to God through the expression of our faith moving through us.
- In what ways does Jesus Christ depict the glory of God in this first portion of the Farewell Discourse? What does this reveal to us about the nature of Christ’s work?
Peter’s Misunderstanding
Yet, for all the teachings of Jesus Christ, for all the time they have spent together, and for all teaching that Jesus had given to Peter and the disciples, he still seemed unable to grasp the fullness and the weight of what Jesus had come to accomplish. Peter answered Jesus understanding that Jesus had been referring to His coming death and he sought to attend to Jesus, thinking himself able to follow Jesus wherever He went. The work of Christ, though, would be to bear the punishment on behalf of mankind, including Peter. Thus, Peter should not follow Him during this first part but could later follow Jesus after Christ is glorified, standing before the Father. It was a mercy for Peter to not accompany Christ, something that would be made clear with Jesus’ rebuke of Peter. Peter would not accompany Jesus walk with Him at any cost. Instead Peter, giving in to the pressure around Him, would deny Jesus before people, claiming not even to know Him. Yet, for all Peter’s lack of understanding, he still held a reverence for Jesus Christ. Not wanting Jesus to see the pain and agony of death, Peter’s rebuttal involved Peter giving up his life so that Jesus’ may continue. He knew the right thing to do but, later, would simply find himself unable to it.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we often find ourselves plagued with the same brashness and brazenness of our own abilities and contributions to the salvation of the world. We view ourselves as integral to the plan of God and that, had we been there, we might have walked with Christ to His crucifixion. This is nothing short of pride, the sin that originally caused the descent of mankind into sin. We, like Peter, on our own strength, will deny Jesus and reject His work as we did before Christ intervened in our lives. It is only by the grace of God that mankind has been afforded salvation and by His mighty saving hand, He redeems our rebellion and sets our feet on the foundation of His strength. The mark of our faith should not be how strong we stand on our own two feet but the love that is poured out of us. We cannot pour from an empty cup and only by the infilling of God’s love to us can we share that love with one another. We do nothing apart from the work of God and our lives should act as a testimony to the work of Jesus Christ through us.
- How does Peter respond to the understanding of Christ’s impending death and how does this reveal the heart of Peter in the story?
Discussion Questions
- How does Christ’s going to the cross speak to God being glorified in the world?
- What does it mean that Jesus died in our place?
- Where do you struggle with thinking that you are able to do better than the plan that God has set down for mankind?
- Why is it essential that only Jesus’ work can produce the salvation in mankind? What would it mean to our salvation if we needed our own works to supplement the works of Christ?
About The Author
Daniel Burton is the founder of The Gospel Outpost. He is passionate about discipleship and seeing people grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ. To find out more about him, check out his Author Page.
