This mentoring relationship was close and candid

It is inevitable: Mentors and their trainees develop deep personal relationships. It was true for Jesus and His twelve. Nowhere in the Bible does this appear more clearly than when He met with them in the upper room just before His crucifixion.

John the apostle was there, and under the Spirit he gave us a vivid account of the conversation that took place. And it was a time for conversation. Jesus was feeling the pressure of His coming crucifixion. The disciples were at best perplexed, even confused, and it was in that spirit they gathered for the Passover. Luke tells us Jesus longed for this occasion, but it had its low moments.

John tells us in chapter 13 of his gospel how Jesus exposed His men’s self-centeredness when He washed their feet. The lesson was clear: Servanthood is to mark Jesus’ followers. They got that. Then Jesus exposed His betrayer, but the other eleven did not yet get that. When Jesus told them He was going where they could not follow, Peter made his extravagant boast of loyalty, “I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus did not rebuke him as He had on previous occasions, but solemnly forecast his denial.

Can you find yourself within that conversational context? Feelings on all sides were running deep. Jesus had clearly told them that love for each other would be the hallmark of their identity. That’s relational. Jesus really related to His men, and He knew how they were feeling. He comforted them in John 14 by addressing their fears, challenging their faith in God and in Him. Yes, He was going away (I believe He was referring to the cross and not to heaven when speaking of preparing a place for them). They would have no place in His kingdom apart from His sacrifice offered and presented in the holy of holies on their behalf—and ours. And it would seem His coming again plainly spoke of His resurrection and appearances to them.

I have always been intrigued by the openness Jesus had with His men as it appears in their dialogues and discussions. Thomas flatly told Jesus they did not know where He was going and asked Him to explain the way. When explaining about His Father, Jesus was openly asked by Philip to show them the Father.

Jesus’ response is patient and helpful. After all this time, Philip was still unclear about the relationship between Jesus as God’s Son and God as the Father. It is not difficult for me to identify with Philip, for Jesus’ response reveals something of the mystical union believers have with Him. And He parallels it with His own relationship to the Father. Let me pause to state that the doctrine of union with Christ really speaks to the relationship all true Christians have with Jesus. John Murray in his little volume Redemption Accomplished and Applied claimed union with Christ as the central doctrine of the Christian life. However, as with the disciples, many today do not understand that. They want to follow Christ, but the dynamic of this relationship has not become part of their experience. I do not wish to say more about this here, but you can recognize in Paul the apostle’s prayers, for example in Ephesians 1, his concern that believers might “know the hope of His calling…the riches of His glory…and the power of His resurrection….” It’s in that context, however, Jesus challenges them to believe what He told them or to simply believe because of His supernatural works. And in that context He encourages them to pray in His name. His point was that “His name” would be the way of faith to the Father, and consequently the way to His answers.

It is apparent that at this point the eleven did not comprehend the doctrine of the Trinity, but, as they related to Jesus, they were learning about God the Father. And while it may seem that Jesus compounded the matter, He then spoke of the Holy Spirit, naming Him “another Helper.” R. C. Sproul and others have explained why He was called “another” Helper or Comforter. The other One, the first one, is Jesus. In that sense the disciples could grasp the comfort they felt and experienced in Jesus’ presence, and that same comfort and peace they would experience when the Holy Spirit came upon and into them. And it was by His Spirit that Jesus would always be with them! Mystical, yes, but not mysticism. In the same way the holy Trinity in the divine economy relate to each other, so Jesus by His Spirit relates to true disciples. Amazing and wonderful! It is that doctrine of the church’s union with Christ which is the basis of the doctrine of “the communion of saints.” It’s relational—and experiential. And Jesus by His Spirit thus dwells among His people forever.

The relation of Jesus to His disciples and they to Him becomes tangible in John 14:21 when Jesus says, “He who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will disclose myself to him.” This is not cold obedience in a vacuum! Jesus makes plain that the love He and the Father sustain is one in which He always keeps His Father’s commandments. When one keeps that in a relational context—the Father and Son love each other—it’s neither cold nor harsh. And to do Jesus’s will is to open the door to more fellowship with Him. “I will disclose myself to him,” Jesus says.

While the disciples at this juncture did not fully grasp all that Jesus had told them, they were comforted by the assurance of His promised presence in the days ahead. The history of the work of salvation was at this time being lived out in their life and experience. In a real sense they were onlookers, but, having these words of Jesus as a background, they were not overwhelmed. Jesus told them He had spoken of these things, namely His going away and returning to them, so that when they happened, they could begin to piece things together. But they would not really come together for the disciples until after He had risen from the dead and after His ascension back to heaven. It was after His ascension and His being seated on His throne with all authority in heaven and on earth that He would then send the Spirit. Because it was His Spirit—again a reference to the mystical union of the Trinity—He would come and indwell them with Jesus’ power. With this affirmation of His relationship to them as in relationship to the Father and Spirit, they treasured His words. They found comfort there. But the conversation was not over. It just moved from the upper room to the way to Gethsemane.

The conversation in the upper room was interrupted. Jesus’ “hour” had come. He and the disciples left, and, presumably, as they walked toward Gethsemane, He continued the conversation. I have been impressed that, while His men were still a long way from having accepted that Jesus was about to be crucified, still Jesus told them. He was to encounter rejection, cruel treatment, ridicule, a mock trial and finally an agonizing cross. And they were identified with him!

But that identification with Him was to prove their hope and victory. So it was that Jesus speaks to them in John 15–16 in terms of that identity. He uses the figure of a vine and branches. “I am the vine,” He said. “You are the branches.” Simple, isn’t it? Perhaps, but there is a spiritual dynamic there that would both motivate and empower them in days to come. After all, Jesus would be giving them an assignment of worldwide proportions. Eleven men? Voltaire once boasted that while Jesus gave such a command, he would show how just one Frenchmen could dismantle it. Voltaire is dead.

Jesus’ illustration had a point, in fact several points. But it’s obvious that His concern was fruit. Another way to put it would be to say that through their identification with Him—union with Him—they would be successful. But not everyone has been agreed on the nature of that fruit. I am committed to the thesis that Jesus was speaking of conversion, new believers. Let me insert a quote from A. B. Bruce in the classic The Training of the Twelve: The fruit He looks for is the spread of the gospel and the ingathering of souls into the kingdom of God by the disciples, in the discharge of their apostolic vocation. Personal holiness is not overlooked; but it is required rather as a means towards increased fertility (p. 413).

I might add here that speaking of fruit in John 15:16, John Calvin clearly states that the fruit must be people.

But we move on to the significance of abiding. We cannot in the space of this article detail the implications of this term. When we lived in Cyprus, I learned enough Greek to say, “I live behind the hospital in Larnaca.” That word live is the term Jesus used. And as Jesus spoke to His men, He used it as a fact and also an action. The fact was that they had been united to Jesus by His call upon them (see v. 16), but they were also given the direct command to abide in Him (see vv. 4, 9-10).

When I came to understand what it meant to “abide in Christ,” my outlook on the gospel ministry took a 180-degree turn. I had clearly been called to pastoral ministry by the Holy Spirit, and the church agreed. I was ordained and installed as pastor of Central Pittsburgh RP Church. But after I preached for two years while in seminary, I knew of no fruit as defined above. And it was tough going! But through the grace of our Lord, He answered my prayers and put me in touch with some persons who revealed by their lifestyle and indeed by their fruit what I had never learned. (I’ve wondered if I was ever taught it. I have no memory of ever having been informed or instructed that it was my abiding in Jesus that would guarantee success.) To this very day, 59 years later, I find my soul both stirred and encouraged by realizing the power of my being united to Christ! In my experience, that is the key truth to be grasped by any person whom I mentor in Christian discipleship. Only Christ by His Spirit can reveal that to one’s experience. Once that is understood, a person will always look to Jesus for fruit! When Pentecost brought the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ disciples, they experienced that power and people were converted.

While Jesus was giving His men this precious truth, He had more to say. There would be difficult experiences ahead. When one reads what follows in the “abiding chapter,” Jesus showed His men that identification with Him in a hostile world would bring with it the same kind of treatment that He experienced. And the reason? Their identity with Jesus!

It is still true: The world hates Jesus. It should be no surprise to us who live in what was the Christianized West when we sense more and more open hatred toward those who follow Jesus and seek to obey His Word. We have been living in a part of the world that has had the poignant impact of the message of Jesus Christ and His Church. Whether or not it continues to fade remains to be seen. No matter; disciples of Jesus are to be prepared for hostility! Peter said later, “Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial that is to try you.”

Through it all, Jesus still reigns. He would be sending help, the Holy Spirit, the other Comforter, to give them strength and courage. In fact, He indicates that it would be the Spirit Himself who would bear witness. How? Through them. Again we catch the impact of one’s abiding in Christ.

It would not be long before the crowd would come after Jesus there in the garden. So Jesus once again directs His men to anticipate His departure and their grief, only to be startled into joy when He returns to them. It was bewildering to the men, but He was giving good leadership. No surprises! He turned their minds to the Father to whom they could go with any request. The one key to heaven’s ear was Jesus’ name.

I have been impressed also with Jesus’ heavy emphasis on His men’s learning to pray. They had so often recognized how Jesus would withdraw from the crowds—just when success looked so promising—and go to the hills to speak with the Father. That intimacy between the Father and Son had been granted to Jesus’ men, and He had taught them the marvelous access they had to the living God. But it was through Him, and it was also through what He was about to accomplish, that it was true. Every prayer that was ever offered up to this point in history found its answer through Jesus’ cross. And ever since, the same is true! Jesus by His death and resurrection mediates every answered prayer. The conversation comes to a wonderful conclusion. Jesus declares at the end of John 16 that all of this communication with Him was to bring them peace. But again He says that peace is to be found “in Me.” So this word of Jesus ends in consolation and hope in Him. “I have overcome the world.”

On a final note: It’s often true that for every one word of instruction while mentoring a disciple, one needs to give at least two words of encouragement. Having given them these words of encouragement, Jesus proceeded to the cross.