The Defining Moments of Christ's PassionPrimjer

Jesus’ Final Words

On the night when Jesus was betrayed, He got on His knees, washed His disciples’ feet, and served the disciples their first Communion as He confirmed His covenant with them. Afterward, Jesus began to speak the last words He would ever speak to them in His human form before He received His glorified body. As Jesus looked into the eyes of His disciples, He knew this was the last time He’d speak to them in this capacity. He also knew that these last words would be among the most important words He had ever spoken to them.

Think about what you might talk about if you knew you were looking into the eyes of your loved ones for the very last time. You would carefully weigh your words and only speak what you believe is the most important for them to remember after you’re gone. Your greatest desire in that final moment would be to make your last words the most thoughtful, advantageous, and heartfelt words you could leave with the people who mean the most to you.

After Jesus washed His disciples’ feet and served them their first Communion, He taught them for a lengthy period. John 14, 15, and 16 are all devoted to Jesus’ last words to His disciples. These chapters contain the Spirit-inspired record of what Jesus said to His disciples just hours before He went to the Cross and, eventually, the grave.

Jesus was about to physically depart from this world. He knew it was essential that the disciples learned how to rely entirely on the Spirit of God for guidance and direction after He left. Therefore, Jesus used His last moments to teach the disciples how to follow the Holy Spirit’s leadership in the same way they followed Him. They had been accustomed to Jesus physically and visibly leading them, but now they were learning that the Spirit of God would become their Leader once He ascended into Heaven!

Jesus used His final moments with the disciples to dispel all fear and insecurity they might have felt about following the Holy Spirit’s leadership. This is why Jesus was so careful to use keywords when He spoke to them about the coming of the Holy Spirit. In John 14:16, for example, Jesus said, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter.…”

I want to draw your attention to a very important word in this verse, and that word is “another.” The word “another” in the Greek language is the word allos, which emphatically means that the Holy Spirit would be like Jesus in every way. This conveys a very strong and important message about the Holy Spirit. Jesus wanted the disciples to know that the Holy Spirit was just like Him. Following the Holy Spirit wouldn’t be any different than following Him, except the Spirit’s leadership would be invisible, whereas Jesus’ leadership was physical and visible.

Therefore, John 14:16 could also be translated to say: “I will pray [to] the Father, and He will send you Someone who is just like Me in every way. He will be identical to Me in the way He speaks, the way He thinks, and the way He operates. He and I think, behave, and operate exactly the same.”

Never forget — as a child of God, you have the Holy Spirit working within you and alongside you every moment of every day. And because the Holy Spirit is the exact representation of Jesus, it’s just like having the Lord right there at your side! Jesus’ last words to His disciples revolved around the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. That’s how serious this message was to Jesus! Since Jesus considered this subject to be so important, why don’t you open your heart to the work of the Spirit of God today?

Think About It:

As you consider Jesus’ final words to His disciples, think about the individuals for whom you care for deeply. If you knew you were slipping into eternity or permanently changing locations, what would your words be to them and why?