Welcome and Invitation
Welcome back. May God bless the time we spend together. Today, we will read John chapters 16 through 18.
Looking through these chapters, I see a process. The biblical word for it is sanctification—the ongoing transformation of a believer into the image of Christ. Let’s look at what that means and how it applies in these chapters, and in our lives. I try to avoid a lot of “church words”; they confuse more than clarify for some people. But these verses will help us understand that word much better.
The Process of Growth
In life, we all go through processes. We start as babies, become toddlers, then children, adolescents, and adults—each stage bringing changes in what we know, do, and care about. This is true in faith as well.
Jesus had just finished supper with His disciples. From there, He would have exited Jerusalem through a gate near the Temple, descended into the Kidron Valley, and ascended the Mount of Olives to reach the Garden of Gethsemane. The walk is short—less than half a mile—but emotionally heavy. The valley was associated with judgment and mourning (Joel 3:2, 12). Kings like Asa and Josiah destroyed idols there (1 Kings 15:13; 2 Kings 23:4). Jesus crossing it evokes a journey from kingship to sacrifice, from light into the shadow of betrayal. (1)
The Invitation to Faith
Believers make a similar journey. We’re often invited to attend church by a friend, or brought by a parent. When a friend invites us, we may be curious—wanting to know why they have the faith they do. Some hear a sermon at a funeral or wedding, and something stirs inside. Children may go because their parents or friends are there.
Many people in the surrounding pews, as we know, are not saved. They are all in different places on their paths of sanctification. Some are just entering the valley. They’ve decided they want to go deeper and know more. Perhaps they haven’t accepted Jesus as their Savior. They are still in denial that they need a Savior. But the Advocate inside them is driving them to learn more (John 14:26; John 16:7–8).
The Stirring of the Spirit
They may be skeptical—but that’s okay. It opens their minds. As long as they are asking questions, they are learning the truth. If a preacher is preaching about the horrors of hell, they may want to avoid that. Many people follow until they get their “get out of hell” free pass. But that is cheap grace—grace without repentance, without transformation.
The Bible says we must believe (John 3:16; Romans 10:9–10), and when they do, the Holy Spirit should then indwell them and provoke them to repent—to turn away from their sins and toward Jesus. This marks the descent deeper into the valley with Him.
The Garden and the Struggle
In the valley, they will reach the garden. This is a place many stay. It’s comfortable—therefore, the disciples fall asleep (Matthew 26:40–41). But if we are truly striving to know Jesus, we learn to pray as He did: “Not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
After accepting that, we ascend from the valley.
Confrontation and Endurance
This is when the world will confront us, as Caiaphas did Jesus (John 18:13–14), and we will have to give a defense. We might fight back like Peter did (John 18:10), but to conform to the image of Christ, we accept that the world will hate us (John 15:18–19). Therefore, we endure the suffering, knowing this is part of the process.
To be what God wants us to be, we will need to go through the stages. Some will fall away. Others will only go so far—like Peter, who waits at a distance. If they are lucky enough to have a friend like John, who will go all the way in and get permission for them, they can draw nearer and warm themselves by the fire (John 18:15–16).
The Climb to Calvary
Only Jesus had to go all the way up the hill to Calvary, but we make that journey too, if we want to be united to Him.
He tells us He is one with the Father, and we should be one with Him (John 17:21–23). Then He will be in us, and so we will be in Him—and in the Father. This can be a time that is most painful, yet most rewarding. It requires us to love as God loves. Most of us struggle with that, but the more we follow Jesus, the more it becomes possible.
Your Unique Path
Don’t worry if you are not at the same point in the journey as acquaintances of yours may be. God has a plan for each of us, and those plans vary. God made us all unique, and He made our paths specifically for us.
I encourage you to keep walking—and keep listening—for God to tell you where He needs you to be.
Tomorrow, we will read John 19-21.
Footnotes
- Kidron Valley geography and symbolism: Joel 3:2, 12; 1 Kings 15:13; 2 Kings 23:4. See also: James C. Vander Kam, From Revelation to Canon: Studies in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Literature (Leiden: Brill, 2000), 312–314.