Scripture Reading: John 14:2-3, 18-20, 28a; 16:5-7, 16
In this chapter we will consider the second sign found in chapters 14 through 17 of the Gospel of John: the sign of the Son’s going and coming. This sign involves the process of Christ’s death and resurrection. Why do we consider the Son’s going and coming to be a sign? We regard this as a sign because when the disciples heard about the Lord’s going and His coming, they understood it in a natural way. They thought that the Lord’s going meant that He would leave them and stay away from them forever. But the Lord’s going signifies something mysterious and divine. Notice that I use the word signifies; I do not use the word means. We are not speaking about what the Lord’s going means but about what it signifies.
The Lord’s going was not merely a going away, a leaving. Rather, His going was a sign. The disciples, however, did not understand the significance of the Lord’s going. When they heard the word go come out of the Lord’s mouth, they understood it in a natural way. They did not realize at the time that the Lord’s going signified something deep, mysterious, and divine. Therefore, we need to see that the Lord’s going is a wonderful sign.
In the same principle, the Lord’s coming spoken of in John 14 is also a sign. Most Christians think that the Lord’s coming here refers to His second advent. But by the word coming the Lord was referring to something that was to happen only a few days later. Nevertheless, most Christians think that the Lord’s coming mentioned here is in the distant future. Thus, in their expositions they make this coming an event at least two thousand years after His going. Their exposition can be compared to Martha’s expounding of the Lord’s word in chapter 11. After Lazarus had died, the Lord told Martha that her brother would rise again. She responded by saying that she knew that he would rise again in the last day. However, the Lord was trying to tell her that Lazarus would be raised up that very day because the Lord Himself is resurrection. In her exposition of the Lord’s word, Martha postponed the raising up of her brother until the distant future. Expositors make a similar mistake in expounding the meaning of coming in chapter 14. The Lord meant by the word coming a coming that was soon, a coming that would take place after a few days. But a number of expositors understand the word coming to refer to the Lord’s coming back at the end of this age. This understanding has nothing practical for our daily Christian life.
In chapters 14, 15, and 16 of the Gospel of John, the Lord repeatedly explained to the disciples the significance of His going and coming. However, the disciples were preoccupied with their natural and traditional concept. No matter how much the Lord explained to them concerning His going and coming, they could not understand what He was saying. The situation is similar among most of today’s Christians. Christians today are occupied with traditional teaching and their natural understanding. Because of this preoccupation, they do not have the proper understanding of the Lord’s going and coming in John 14. Thus, there is the need for us to see that both the Lord’s going and His coming are signs indicating something deep, divine, and mysterious.
The Son’s going is a sign of His all-inclusive death. For the Lord to go was for Him to go through an all-inclusive death.
Through His all-inclusive death the Lord solved the problem of sin (Rom. 8:3; John 1:29; Heb. 9:26, 28; 1 Cor. 15:3; 1 Pet. 2:24). John 1:29 says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” The Lamb of God took away the sin of the world when He was crucified. This aspect of His crucifixion is included in the sign of His going in John 14. Have you ever realized that the Lord’s going was His crucifixion?
In John 3:14 the Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” As we have seen, this is related to Christ as the sin offering (Rom. 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21). When the Lord was crucified, He was lifted up, as the bronze serpent was lifted up by Moses.
The Son’s going through death was also to terminate the old creation. Concerning this, Paul says, “Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be annulled” (Rom. 6:6). This verse says that our old man, our old creation, has been crucified with Christ. When Christ went to the cross, He terminated the old creation.
John 12:31a says, “Now is the judgment of this world.” The world is an evil system arranged systematically by Satan. Satan has systematized all the things on earth, especially those related to mankind, and the things in the air, into his kingdom of darkness to occupy and frustrate people from the purpose of God and distract them from the enjoyment of God. When the Lord Jesus was crucified, this evil system, the kingdom of darkness, was judged. Therefore, the Lord’s going involved the judgment of the world.
By going through death the Lord also destroyed Satan and his works (v. 31b; 16:11; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8; John 3:14). John 12:31b says, “Now shall the ruler of this world be cast out.” When the Lord Jesus was on the cross, He was in the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3). Through His death the Lord destroyed Satan, who had injected himself into man’s flesh (Heb. 2:14). By judging Satan (John 16:11), the Lord also judged the world. The Lord’s going included the destroying of Satan and his works.
When in John 14 the Lord said that He was going, He was indicating His all-inclusive death. The Lord’s going took away the sin of the world, terminated the old creation, judged the world, and cast out the ruler of the world, Satan. By this we can see how much is included in the Lord’s going.
The word going is very rich in its significance. Sin has been taken away, the sin offering has been offered, the world has been judged, and Satan has been destroyed. If the disciples in John 14 had realized the significance of the sign of the Lord’s going, they would have been excited and offered praise to God. How wonderful is the sign of the Son’s going!
Through His death on the cross Christ also abolished the law of the commandments in ordinances (Eph. 2:14-16). One of these ordinances was that the Jews, God’s chosen people, could not be one with the Gentiles. In John 10:16 the Lord Jesus indicated that, as a result of His death, the Jews and the Gentiles can be one: “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must lead them also, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one flock, one Shepherd.” The one flock signifies the one church, the one Body of Christ, brought forth by life, which the Lord imparted into His members through His death (vv. 10-18). The “other sheep” in John 10:16 are the Gentiles. When these sheep are brought together with the Jewish sheep, there is one flock, one church, composed of both Jewish and Gentile believers. However, as long as the ordinances of the law remained, the Jews were prohibited from being one with the Gentiles. Therefore, the Lord died on the cross to annul, to abolish, the law of the commandments in ordinances.
Today there no longer are ordinances separating the Jewish and Gentile believers. The Lord’s purpose in dying to abolish the ordinances was that the Jewish and Gentile believers might be built up into one building, and this unique building is the Father’s house. Praise the Lord that through His going to the cross He removed all the obstacles and cleared the way for us to enter into the Triune God for the building up of the Father’s house! How profitable was His going!
John 12:24 indicates that the Lord’s going, His death on the cross, was for the releasing of the divine life: “Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” According to this verse, when the Lord was crucified, He fell into the ground and died as a grain of wheat in order to produce many grains. Here we see that the Lord died to release the divine life. Hence, His going was not only to take care of things on the negative side — to solve the problem of sin, terminate the old creation, judge the world, destroy Satan, and abolish the ordinances — but also to do something very positive — to release the divine life that was concealed within Him.
We need to see all that is signified by the sign of the Lord’s going. This sign includes the taking away of sin, the termination of the old creation, the judgment of the world, the destroying of Satan, the abolishing of the law of the commandments in ordinances, and the releasing of the divine life. What a wonderful sign! Not only did the disciples fail to understand this, but many of today’s Christians do not understand it either, even though it has been recorded in the Bible. How many believers realize that the Lord’s going was a sign of His all-inclusive death? It truly is a great matter that the problem of sin has been solved, that the old creation has been terminated, that the world has been judged, that Satan and his works have been destroyed, and that the law of the commandments in ordinances has been abolished. It is also a great matter that through the Lord’s death the divine life has been released.
Although we have covered many wonderful aspects of the Lord’s going, we need to cover one further aspect: preparing a place for His believers to enter into God. A great purpose of the Lord’s going was to prepare a place for His believers to enter into God (14:2-3). Through His death the Lord opened the way for sinners to come into God. The way He prepared through His going is the new and living way mentioned in Hebrews 10:19-20: “Having therefore, brothers, boldness for entering the Holy of Holies in the blood of Jesus, which entrance He initiated for us as a new and living way through the veil, that is, His flesh.” A living entry into the Triune God has been prepared by the Lord’s going. This is what the Lord meant when He said, “I go to prepare a place for you...that where I am you also may be” (John 14:2-3). The Lord was in the Father. However, before the Lord’s going through death, the disciples were still outside the Father. Hence, they were not in the place where the Lord was. Before the Son’s going, there was no way, no entry, for us sinners to come into the Father.
What we have in John 14:2 and 3 is not yet the building of the Father’s house; this is the way, the entry, into the building. After we enter into the Father, we receive His dispensing. Now that we are in Him, the Father dispenses His nature into our being. The Father’s nature is signified by gold (Rev. 21:18b, 21b). We also have the dispensing of the Son with His overcoming death and life-imparting resurrection signified by pearl (v. 21a). Furthermore, we have the dispensing of the Spirit into our being, mainly for the purpose of transforming us and making us precious stones (vv. 19-20). This dispensing of the Triune God with the Father’s nature, the Son’s death and resurrection, and the Spirit’s transforming work is all for the building of the Father’s house.
The crucial point here is that apart from the Son’s going we would have no way to come into the Father. Without the Lord’s going, sinners cannot enter into the holy God. Therefore, it was necessary for the Lord to go. Now we can praise Him for going and for doing everything signified by the sign of His going. Now there is a clear way for us to come into the Father. We can come boldly into the Father, and we are in Him now to enjoy His dispensing. This is the sign of the Lord’s going.
The sign of the Son’s coming signifies His coming as the Spirit in resurrection. The Lord’s going was His death, and His coming was His resurrection. Actually, His going was His coming, for He came by going.
Without death we cannot have resurrection. Death is for resurrection. If we do not pass through death, we cannot be in resurrection. Hence, death is a preparatory step for resurrection. The Lord Jesus died so that He might enter into resurrection.
The Lord’s all-inclusive death was wonderful, and His resurrection was marvelous. I deeply appreciate the Lord’s death, and I appreciate also His resurrection. We have seen that through His death the Lord solved the problem of sin, terminated the old creation, judged the world, destroyed Satan, abolished the ordinances, released the divine life, and prepared a place for His believers to enter into God. Although all this is wonderful, we still need His resurrection.
The sign of the Lord’s resurrection includes the fact that Christ, the last Adam, the One who is the Lamb of God, the Redeemer, has become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17). Both the Redeemer and the life-giving Spirit are precious. For our enjoyment we need both the Redeemer and the life-giving Spirit. When I am thirsty, I need a drink. In preparing a drink of water for me, my wife first cleans the cup. It is very good that the cup is now clean. But if my wife does nothing more than clean the cup, I will still be thirsty. I might say to her, “Dear, I appreciate having a clean cup. But I am thirsty, and I need water to drink.” When she puts water in the cup, I treasure the cup and the water. We may say that the cup signifies the Redeemer and that the water signifies the life-giving Spirit. In their experience some Christians have the cup but no water. They treasure a cup without water, but we treasure the cup with the water. We treasure both the Redeemer and the life-giving Spirit. In death the Lord Jesus was the Lamb, the Redeemer. But in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit. How marvelous!
In resurrection the Son comes to us as the Spirit, as the pneumatic Christ (John 20:19-22). Not only has Christ become the life-giving Spirit, but when He comes to us, He comes as the Spirit. He comes as the pneumatic Christ.
The Lord Jesus came to His disciples as the pneumatic Christ on the day of His resurrection. In chapter 20 of the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus came to His disciples, who were in a place where the doors were shut, as the pneuma. The Greek word pneuma means “spirit”; it also means “breath” or “air.” In chapter 1 Christ was the Lamb, but in chapter 20, after His death and in His resurrection, He was the pneumatic Christ. The first time He came, He came as the Lamb of God. The second time He came as the pneuma. According to John 20:22, “He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.” This indicates that the Lord came to them as breath, as air.
When we receive Christ today, we receive the pneumatic Christ. This means that we receive not only the redeeming Christ but also the life-giving Christ. What kind of Christ are you enjoying? Do you enjoy only the redeeming Christ? Do you not also enjoy the life-giving Christ? Praise the Lord that we are enjoying not only the redeeming Christ but also the pneumatic Christ, the life-giving Christ!
Our Christ is pneumatic. To say that He is the pneumatic Christ means that He is full of divine air. Just as a car tire must be pneumatic, that is, full of air, so every Christian should be pneumatic, full of heavenly air. In our daily life we should not be “flat,” short of the divine air, short of the divine breath. Unfortunately, most Christians are flat.
Our spiritual air is the Spirit. In resurrection Christ has come to us as the Spirit, the pneuma. How is it possible for the Lord Jesus to be pneumatic? The Lord became the pneumatic Christ through resurrection. Resurrection is a sign that Christ the Redeemer has become the pneumatic Christ.
As the Spirit, Christ enters into the believers (14:17-18, 20; 17:26b; 15:4a, 5a). This means that Christ not only comes to us — He enters into us. Christ can come into us because He is pneumatic. We simply need to breathe Him in as the divine pneuma. We know from experience that even when we are not aware of it, the heavenly air enters into us.
In resurrection Christ imparts the divine life into the believers (3:15-16; 10:10b). Through His death the divine life was released. Now this life is imparted to our being by the pneumatic Christ in resurrection. The redeeming Christ is now the pneumatic Christ in resurrection, and this pneumatic Christ enters into us to impart the divine life to us. By this we see that the divine life has been imparted to our being not only through the Lord’s death but also through His resurrection.
As the Spirit in resurrection, Christ lives in and with the believers (14:19; 6:57; Gal. 2:20). This means that He becomes one with us. He and we have one life. Because of His resurrection we and the Lord have one life, and we live together with Him.
In resurrection Christ brings the believers into the Father so that where He is they also may be (John 14:10a, 11a, 3, 20; 17:21, 24). This is to be in the Father’s house. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, through His going and coming, we have entered into the Father’s house.
We have not only entered into the Father’s house, but we have even become part of the Father’s house. John 14:23 says, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” The abode here is one of the many abodes mentioned in verse 2, where the Lord said, “In My Father’s house are many abodes.” The Lord’s word here indicates that the believers become abodes in the Father’s house.
Today we all are part of the church life, part of the Father’s house, through Christ’s death and resurrection and in the pneumatic Christ, who now lives within us. The pneumatic Christ makes us one with the Triune God, and this oneness is the Father’s house. This is the Body of Christ, which is an organism of the Triune God.
This marvelous organism is infinitely better than a so-called heavenly mansion. Such a mansion would not be pneumatic. But today’s church is pneumatic. The church is an organism full of pneuma. Instead of looking forward to a heavenly mansion, I prefer to remain in the church enjoying the pneumatic Christ.
