John 14-16. “The final discourse of Jesus.”

They say that politicians make promises that only God could keep. It is cute to say that about the would-be statesmen among us, but to say it of Jesus Christ is the absolute truth.

That is, only God could fulfill the self-statements made by Jesus of Nazareth. Oh, listen carefully! Here are absolute revelations of His Deity to the apostles, along with the personality of the Holy Spirit.

We will take them as a group.

14:7. “…If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also…”

14:9. “…He who has seen Me has seen the Father…”

14:11. “…believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me…”

14:13. “…whatever you ask in My Name, that will I do…”

14:17-18. “…[the Spirit of truth]…abides with you and shall be in you…I will come to you…”

14:23. “…my Father will love [the one who keeps My word]… and We will come to him and make our abode with him…”

16:14. “He [the Spirit of truth] will glorify Me…”

16:23. “…if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you…” (cf 14:13 above)

Q. I notice that in all the above quotes, there is only one feeble attempt to deny the things being said, namely in 16:13-14. There the NWT tries to neuter the Spirit in at least one word when it says, “When that one comes, the spirit of the truth…” But in the rest of the verse, “He” is used, for it cannot be denied here or elsewhere, that the Holy Spirit is a person. Why do witnesses insist on teachings that are unfounded in the Scriptures?

JWA. All of these verses can be looked at in different ways, once eyes are opened to the truth. There is one Almighty God, and one created Mighty Son. On this the Bible is clear, and all else must be built around it.

CA: So in Witness theology, Christians are the blind ones who interpret Scriptures in the light of ancient tradition rather than the new light given to their founders and governors. The clarity of the above passages does nothing for them, just as a person who is sworn to defend a particular Presidential candidate will not change regardless of the facts brought out.

How wonderful is that last discourse of Jesus to the subject at hand. The above verses are not the entire story. But read all three chapters and see what breathless revelations Jesus is leaving with His men as He departs this world:

• To know and to see Jesus Christ is to know and to see Father God, Jehovah!
• Jesus actually has His life inside of the Father and the Father has His life inside the Son!
• Whatever we ask Jesus or His Father, the response is the same: You can have it!
• The Spirit will come from the Father but will actually be Jesus!
• Father and Son are actually present in the Spirit when He comes to live in the human heart!
• The Spirit glorifies Jesus Christ, with not a word of protest from the Great Father Almighty!

With this one series of statements, if need be, we could rest our case against the so-called “witnesses.”

John 14:28. “…My Father is greater than I…”

Q. Is there a difference in greatness between Father and Son?

JWA. You said it. You just read it from John’s Gospel!

Q. Perhaps you did not hear my question. I said, Is there a difference in greatness between Father and Son?

JWA. Ah, but we both know the Lord never changes. What He was then He is now. And He, Jehovah, was greater than the Son, by the Son’s admission.

Q. I’ll go you one better. At the time of which we are speaking, known historically and theologically as the Incarnation, even the angels were greater than Jesus. Sir do you believe the angels are greater than Jesus today?

JWA. Actually we believe that Jesus was the first created angel, but definitely the greatest.

Q. We will discuss the “Michael” teaching another time. Let’s concentrate on the “greater” teaching for the moment. You are saying that Jesus is the greatest of all angels, therefore greater than all the other angels. But Hebrews 2:7 specifically states that Jesus was placed a little lower than the angels for a certain period of time, the time He was here.

CA. And this is the same time of which we are speaking in John 14:28. Philippians 2:7 in the NWT puts it like this, “… He emptied Himself and took a slave’s form…” Is God a slave? Is God all-powerful? Yes. But when the Son came to earth, He became one of us. He became a servant, a slave. He humbled Himself to the point of death. He listened for the Father’s voice in every aspect of His life, and chose not to do anything the Father was not saying to do. That is, He acted and lived as He calls all His people to live. And we are not God. But although he was God, in those miraculous days of the Incarnation, He behaved like the lowest of men.

That’s why He could say what seemed to those around Him to be an obvious truth: My Father is greater than I. Then God exalted Him, per Philippians 2. Look at Him after His resurrection. Look at Him at the top of Transfiguration hill. Look at Him as He ascends, body, soul, and Spirit, into the heavens, where He re-assumes the glory He had with the Father before there was a world (John 17:5).