Passover, Part 2

Well, last time in the Bible study, we started to look at the Passover, the original Passover service and New Covenant Passover. And we got through the foot washing. We talked about the foot washing, the meaning behind it. And today we're going to pick up where we left off. And we are, again, I'm going to remind everyone that the Gospels do have different perspectives. There are, first of all, John's Gospel, which truly is unique. And again, we will see today that there are scriptures that John includes about the New Covenant Passover and the events afterward that we have John to thank, who we wouldn't even know they existed.

Remember, the Passover foot washing was one of them. If it had not been for John recording the foot washing, no one would even know that it had occurred that evening. So he writes a rather unique Gospel. And then there are what are called the Synoptic Gospels.

They're very similar. Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Similar accounts. It is believed they may have used the same original manuscript. It may have been Matthew's. He was the one who was actually present. And there's a small chance that Mark, as a young man, may have been in the upper room because his mother may have owned the upper room. But we'll get into that in more detail as we start going through the survey of the Gospel. So this is kind of where we left off last time, but we'll go over these Scriptures one more time.

John 13, verse 27. Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him, then Jesus said to him, What you do, do quickly. But no one at the table knew for what reason. He said this, for some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus said to him, Buy those things we need for the feast, or that he should give something to the poor. Having received the piece of bread, he went out immediately, and it was night.

And as I mentioned last time, Judas was just at this point filled with bitterness and anger and rage, and he wanted to lash out. Perhaps he thought that he could force the kingdom of God now, if Jesus were arrested, that Jesus would react and ushering the kingdom of God quickly.

He was a zealot, but Satan obviously entered his mind, and that's why Jesus used that phrase, or the Scripture used the phrase that Satan entered him. He certainly became possessed. And verse 29, I wanted to highlight again, or that he should give something to the poor. Christ spent much of his ministry helping the poor, not only in words, but in actions.

He healed the poor. He preached the gospel, the good news of the kingdom to the poor. He encouraged the poor. He spent a lot of time with the poor. And this shows that he had a common habit of giving a gift during the Holy Day season to help the poor, because Jesus Christ was a very compassionate individual.

And it's because he had done this earlier that they assumed that what Judas was being told is to go out and give something to the poor. That statement could only be made if it was a habit, if it's something that they had seen Jesus do earlier. Alright, now we're going to go into where Jesus prophesies the desertion of his followers. This is a unique situation where all poor accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, handle this in a different perspective and in a different way.

We will follow John's account here. So when he had gone out, Jesus said, now speaking of Judas, the son of man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God also will glorify him in himself and glorify him immediately. Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek me. And as I said to the Jews, where I am going, you cannot come.

So now I say to you, we're going to look at this in another translation, because the King James is rather cryptic here. This is God's word for today. The same verse is when Judas was gone. Jesus said, the son of man is glorified and because of him, God is glorified. So the Father is glorified when Christ is glorified. And we know he would be when he would be resurrected from the dead. If God is glorified because of the son of man, God will glorify the son of man because of himself and he will glorify the son of man at once.

Of course, we know that just three days and three nights after Jesus was buried in the tomb, he was glorified. He was resurrected. He became the wave sheaf offering, which occurred when? When would the wave sheaf offering have occurred? Remember, we're interactive. Good morning. Well, Sunday after this, is that what we're doing today? Okay. Very good. That's right. The Sunday after, in the middle of the days of Unleavened Bread. So that's tomorrow.

So he glorified the son of man at once. Jesus said, Dear children, I will still be with you a little while. I am telling you what I told the Jews. You will look for me, but you can't go where I am going. I'll go back to the King James. Jesus continues, A new commandment I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. But by this, all will know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another.

And I want to emphasize again, doctrine is very important. We have a church that is established on the truth of God. But it doesn't say that by doctrine they will know that you are my disciples. It says, if you love one another, the world will know that you are my disciples.

So to have doctrine without love, as Paul would say, we become a clanging symbol. To have truth, but not to really love one another the way Jesus wants us to. All we are is a noisemaker, rather than someone who is a light to the world and demonstrates the goodness and the glory of God. By this, all will know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going?

And Jesus answered him, Where I am going, you cannot follow me now. But you shall follow me afterward. The Believer's Study Bible says this about verses 34 through 36. The new commandment is new in contrast to the old. And the old was obviously just the letter of the law. Don't seek vengeance is what Leviticus 19.8 says. But it has a new motive, as I have loved you. So the new commandment has a new scope. It is saying, continuing, the whole world is to distinguish Christ's disciples, not only by mighty acts, but in the kind of love Jesus exhibited as seen in his disciples' act of love and concern.

So the new commandment is a sacrificial love like Jesus Christ had. He was willing to die for his friends. You know, he says a good man is willing to die for his friends. That's love. That's sacrificial love. That is how Jesus wants us to love one another. Very Bible notes say, quote, to love is not a new command, but to love as sacrificially as Christ did is.

Where the standard is yourself. Love someone as you would love your own body. And we all love ourselves a lot. Probably more than we're willing to admit. We care for ourselves. If we hurt ourselves, ooh! Right? We cut ourselves. We put a band-aid on it. I mean, we kind of take care of ourselves a lot. We meticulously comb our hair. We put on deodorant. We do all these things because we love ourselves. And some of those things because we love other people, too. But the kind of love that Jesus is talking about is that when we love another human being, as much as we would love and care for ourselves.

Let's take a look, zeroing in on this, since John had wrote the book of John and wrote 1 John. Let's see where John himself magnifies his principle a little bit. 1 John 3, verses 14. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. So how do you pass from not being saved, from being lost, from still being in your sins, to life, eternal life? You pass that gulf of being righteous in God's eyes and salvation.

He says, how do you do that? Because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. It's a contradiction to be a Christian and to hate your brother. It's incompatible to proclaim to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and to despise another human being. Verse 15, whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

I'm going to read this from the New Century version. We know that we have left death and have come into life because we love each other. Whoever does not love is still dead. Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderers have eternal life in them. So in John's own little epistles, he kind of also touches upon the same subject that he wrote upon in the Gospel itself. Now back to the Gospel. Peter said in him, Lord, why can I not follow you now?

I will lay down my life for your sake. Pretty bold, pretty dogmatic statement by Peter, who was used to bold and dogmatic statements in his lifetime. And Jesus answered him, will you lay down your life for my sake? Most assuredly I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied me three times.

And of course we know that three is the biblical number of finality. So Jesus was making a prophecy here, and he said, Peter, before that rooster crows, you will deny me three times, which will final complete betrayal. What that represents from Peter, who just jumped out spontaneously, said, Lord, I'm going to lay down my life for you. I'm not going to let them arrest you. I'm not going to let them lay a finger on you, because I'm going to be there, and I'm going to intervene, and I'm going to take matters in my own hand. So Jesus rebukes him here, continuing, now going to Luke's account. And he said to them, this is Christ, when I sent you without money bag, knapsack and sandals, did you lack anything?

That was a previous command. When he sent them out to preach the gospel, to cast out demons, to do the ministry, earlier he had sent them out, and he sent them out without money bag, without knapsack, without sandals. He said earlier, he said, I just want you to go out and do your mission on sheer faith. Don't even prepare and plan. Just go out and sheer faith and do these things. So he says to them, when I asked you to do this before, was it okay? Did it work?

Did you lack anything? So they said, nothing. Worked perfectly. So Jesus says here, then he said to them, but now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack, and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.

Now, this phrase, when I sent you out previously, that happened to be in Matthew 10 and verse 9, earlier in our ministries, scholars use two different views to explain these verses. And I want to explain both to you, because I think they both have merit, and they're both worth pondering. Here's interpretation number one. Jesus wouldn't be with them much longer. They would need to be wise in a very dangerous world, and they would need to possess money and defensive weapons, like a sword and a knapsack, to store things in, to protect themselves from an evil world. That's one interpretation, and that makes sense. That's certainly something to ponder.

However, there's another interpretation. And the first interpretation is what, in the church, we have traditionally explained that scripture. There's another interpretation, I think it's food for thought, it makes you think. And that is that Jesus was being ironic in his statement. After all, they admitted that his previous instruction worked. He said, Did the previous instruction I give you work? Yep, it was fine.

So what this particular interpretation says is now they thought that they could protect him by violence and take matters into their own hands, and that Jesus was simply repeating what he knows was going in their minds. So this interpretation says, Jesus says to them ironically, When I told you to go out without money, knapsack, sword, and so on, did that work? Yes. So now you want to have money, a knapsack, and a sword? So that is how that interpretation works. And in this interpretation, Jesus would not be reversing his previous instruction. And let's continue and see if this second interpretation can possibly make sense. Now let's go to verse 37.

What Jesus is saying is, aside from all the good intentions to protect me with swords and Peter to lay down his life and so on, I must die. This is written in the cards. My end, my physical life, is near the end. And I have to be numbered among the transgressors, and this is part of God's plan, and you cannot change it.

Verse 38. So they said, look, Lord, look, here are two swords, and it's possible that he's in one plane, and they're still talking about protecting him by violent means, if necessary. And he said to them, it is enough, as if Jesus is saying, that's enough discussion about this topic. No more. Forget it.

So those are two interpretations, and I give them to you just as food for thought to think about. None of them are doctrinal, per se, because Jesus Christ is our sacrificial lamb. He did die. It's just two different ways to look at these words that oftentimes can appear to be confusing, and Christ can appear to be reversing something he had said earlier, if you take our traditional interpretation of it.

Now let's go to the institution of the bread and wine. There's no account in John. It is in the synoptic gospels, Mark, Matthew, and Luke. So we will go right there, Luke chapter 22 and verse 17.

Do this in remembrance of me. The next step, likewise, he also took the cup after supper, saying, the cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. So let's first take a look at the bread. The bread was a loaf. It was an unleavened loaf. It was one piece of bread. He said a prayer, broke it, and he took a piece and he handed the loaf off to the other disciples who would all take a piece of that bread. It was broken to represent the suffering of Christ. His body was broken. He was whipped, scourged. His body bruised, stabbed in the side, nails driven through his hands to represent the suffering of Christ. That's why the bread was broken. It was unleavened because Jesus is the one complete, perfect offering. He was sinless. And his one life alone as the Creator God was worth more than all human beings who have ever been born. And that's why his one life is of greater value than all human beings who have ever been born on earth. We eat it. They ate it that Passover evening as a represent the righteousness of Christ in us and our commitment to him as a living sacrifice. That's our part to continue to be his disciples and his followers and to live lives as a living sacrifice. And then it was shared to others to represent our unity together and being part of the one body, which is the church, the spiritual body of Jesus Christ.

Okay, he took the cup. The cup of wine was symbolic of the following. It was read to represent the shed blood of Christ to forgive sin once for all. That's a phrase Paul uses in the book of Hebrews regarding the sacrifice of Christ. So it was read to represent his shed blood. It was wine. Wine was used at that time because of its alcohol content to help eliminate infection and disease. And the wine represents cleansing to remove spiritual disease of sin and also of our physical bodies that sometimes we can go to God and ask him for intervention in our lives and to heal us.

The wine was eaten, or we could say they drank the wine, accepting the shed blood of the lamb for their personal sins. And we do the same thing in a Passover. We accept it not for the person sitting next to us, not for our spouse, not for someone else. This is personal between you and Jesus Christ when you take that cup. It represents your relationship with him. And it was shared again to represent our unity together and love for one another even unto death.

Matthew 26 and 28, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for the remission of sins, the removal of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom. And when he makes this statement, until I drink it new with you in the father's kingdom, he's referring to the wedding supper that he will have with his bride. When he returns to earth. And did you realize that the wedding supper is alluded to in a parable or in a story that Jesus had in Luke 12? Let's read it because I want to highlight what an awesome and wonderful Savior that we have. Luke 12 and verse 34. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning. In other words, be zealous, be anxious, be ready to learn, be ready to be a full and complete disciple of Jesus Christ, to be a learner, which is what disciple means. Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning. And you yourselves be like men who wait for the master, and when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately. Verse 37. Blessed are those servants whom when the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly I say unto you, I want you to think about this. This is Christ at his own wedding celebration. I tell you that when he comes, I say to you that he will gird himself, have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. Talk about a sacrificial love. Talk about the kind of love you have for your bride. Just girding his waist and washing his own disciples' feet were not enough. He is such a great God and a wonderful Savior that the allusion here, the allegory here, is that even in the wedding supper itself, at the conclusion of the days when Christ and his bride are united and wed, that he will serve his bride, which is us, the church of God, in this way. And again, it says he will sit down to eat, sit them down to eat, and he will come and serve them. What an incredible example of love. In our 21st century, we have some sensibilities that we have to consider because the world has certainly changed since 31 A.D.

I want you to remember, as I discuss some of these things, that there were only 12 men observing these things together. 12 guys. And guys tend to do things together. If you've ever been in a hunting lodge or a tent where a bunch of guys are at, they tend to endure and do some things that most people might find distasteful.

And in our 21st century, we do have particular sensibilities of things, and I wanted to discuss them because we do have, and traditionally have had, some modifications performed because of a genuine love for others because of health and hygiene considerations.

Anyone know what Matthew 12 says?

I desire mercy more than sacrifice. Is Jesus making a statement?

Here are some examples. On that Passover, all the feet were washed in one basin.

Now that's something in the 21st century that most people would think is rather gross, to wash 48 feet in one basin. If you're number one, it might not be so bad, but if you're number 48, you might have a different opinion about that.

Here's another sensibility. The bread was a single loaf, and the Greek word is Αάρτος, which means loaf. It was broken and passed around to everyone.

Again, in our modern 21st century, for us to break, it would have to be a pretty large loaf, for 40-50 people to break a loaf and then to pull the chunk off and pass it around, if you're number 49 or 50, by the time 49 people have fingered that bread, it may not appear to be extremely appetizing or holy. It may not represent in your mind what it needs to represent. The wine was in one cup, and everyone drank from the same cup.

Now, in our modern culture today, with sensibilities about health and hygiene, we have folks on a Passover night that have runny noses, that have things that I'm not even going to talk about. The point is that we, in our sensibilities today, would not have a single cup and pass it around to 50 people. That just would not be considered the right thing to do.

So, instead of that, we have it in little cups. The same bottle comes out of the same bottle, the same wine, that is prayed over for all the cups, but we have individual cups. Wine was natural, unfortified wine. And traditionally, for those with substance abuse challenges, for those individuals who come to the ministry, we have allowed non-alcoholic wine for over 25 years as an alternative.

For people that have had former problems with alcoholism, it's easy to be triggered if you drink something that has 13 to 15% alcohol in it. The kind of wine that we use is from California. It's a very good wine. It's like 13.7% alcohol. It also has no sulfites, and that's why I choose that particular wine. For someone who's had a past history of alcoholism, to take that can be a very distressing struggle to have that amount of alcohol even in one sip for some individuals. But we have to understand what non-alcoholic wine is. This is a statement from ariellevineyards.com in their Frequently Asked Questions section. Here's what it says.

It says, it is physically impossible to remove 100% of the alcohol from a fermented beverage. The legal definition of a non-alcoholic beverage requires a product to contain less than one half of 1% of alcohol. So the truth is that what is called non-alcoholic wine contains a limited or reduced amount of alcohol, not no alcohol. It's just like the wine I buy says no sulfates. But that's impossible. If you read closely in the bottom line, it says sulfates are in every wine. It's impossible to remove all the sulfates. So it's really low sulfate. It's not no sulfate wine. And by folks being able to take this wine, who have that need, it's low enough not to cause a problem with someone who might struggle with tasting and ingesting something that's 10 to 15%. Now, as far as I know, my history goes back 25 years, personally, that this has been a doctrine in the Church of God. And it may go back longer. Again, that's just my sensibilities that I'm aware of, and I wanted everyone to know that. Another sensibility we have is the bread. That night was made with wheat or barley flour and water. And for those with a gluten intolerance, if someone comes up and has a gluten intolerance, and if you've ever had a gluten intolerance, you know that eating gluten physically makes you ill. It's actually an attack on your immune system, and it makes you sick. We do allow gluten-free unleavened bread to be eaten. It's still unleavened. It's still bread for someone who has a gluten intolerance. So I only mention those things because I want you to understand that there are important sensitivities for the 21st century. Now, if someone were to say to me that I think that an alcoholic should be drinking 14% alcohol, and if they don't, it's a lack of faith, my response to them would be, all I ask is that your theology be consistent. Then you're going to only pass one cup around to everybody to drink out of? Oh, no. Well, then do you lack faith? Are you going to have everyone wash their feet in one basin? Oh, no. Well, then what's wrong? Do you lack faith? Are you going to have one loaf of bread and let everybody finger the bread and pass? Oh, well, then what's wrong? Do you lack faith? So all I'm asking is before someone makes that accusation that their theology be consistent and not just do something that seems to pick on people that are struggling with the problems of alcoholism. So I wanted to be aware of that situation. Now we're going to go to John chapter 14, the final discourse in the upper room. This is a conversation going on between Jesus and His disciples. He says, Meaning, as it's translated in the New Century version, many rooms, offices, roles, and opportunities that Jesus Christ will bring back to Him, to His saints.

And receive you to Myself, that where I am there you may be also. So Jesus is encouraging them, letting them know that He's leaving, but He is going to return. Verse 4, And where I go you know, and the way you know. And Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?

And Jesus said to Him, I am the way. The way that you can know the way is, look at me, Thomas, is what He's saying. Look at my example. Look at my life. Remember what I have taught you. That is the way. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. And from now on you will know Him and have seen Him. So Philip continues to dig a hole even deeper than Thomas did in this discussion. And he says, Lord, show us the Father. And everything will be fine. We'll get it. We'll understand it if you'll show us the Father. I guess before that we are going to look at verses 4 through 8 through the translation of God's Word for today. Make it a little clearer.

Let's go back. You know the way, the place where I am going? Thomas said to Him, Lord, we don't know where you're going, so how can we know the way? And Jesus answered Him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would also know my Father. From now on, you know Him through me and have seen Him in me. Philip said to Jesus, Lord, show us the Father and that will satisfy us. So Jesus said to Him, Have I been with you so long and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, show us the Father? He said, if you're paying attention and if you see the attitude that I have about things, and if you see how I ponder things and how I react, Jesus says, if you look at my life as an example, He says, you also see the Father because they're that close. They're that united. How can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me, the words that I speak to you? I do not speak only on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does the works. Believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. He says, even if you can't grasp that the Father and I are one, and when you see one, you also see the other. If you can't grasp that, just look at the miracles that I have performed. He says, I'm obviously a representative of God. I am God, is what Jesus is saying.

Verse 12, most assuredly, I say unto you, he who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these will he do, because I go to my Father. And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. And then he makes his statement in verse 5, if you love me, keep my commandments. So that's how we show that we love Christ, that we keep his commandments. Now sometimes people quote that verse 15 as only referring to the Ten Commandments. That's very limited. Jesus gave us a lot of commandments that are not part of the Ten Commandments. So when he says, if you love me, keep my commandments, he believes it means everything that Jesus said we should do, including how we treat one another and how we relate to one another as well as the Ten Commandments.

Verse 12, greater works than these will he do when we preach the gospel throughout the world and we make disciples of remote nations of every color and every language spoken on earth and every ethnicity. When we do those things, we are doing a greater work than Jesus Christ was able to do in his ministry in three and a half years. And it's the power of the Holy Spirit, as we'll see the Helper, that he gives us the opportunity to do that. He says, because I go to my Father, Christ is now our advocate to the Father and with faith we can achieve even greater things than Jesus did if we ask in his name, if we have the right kind of faith, knowing that he's our high priest, he's our advocate and intermediary who goes to the Father on our behalf.

And of course, verse 15, loving Christ is keeping his commands, all of his commands, not simply limited to the Ten Commandments, everything that he taught.

Let's continue now in verse 16.

And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Helper, that he may abide with you forever, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Of course, he's talking about the Holy Spirit. I'm not going to get into a detailed explanation about the gender of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not a personage.

The translators, because they thought anything that had power or was nice, was a male, refers to the Holy Spirit as he rather than she.

So they give it a gender of he. Here's the thing I want to focus on. For the Holy Spirit dwells with you and will be in you. So we've seen to the disciples, right now, this Spirit is around you. It's dwelling with you.

But on the day of Pentecost, like flames of fire are going to come down on the day of Pentecost, and then that Helper is literally going to be in you.

I will not leave you orphans. That's a promise. Jesus says, I'm not going to abandon you and leave you alone in this very difficult and wicked world.

I will come to you a little while longer, and the world will see me no more. But you will see me because I live, you will live also.

Verse 16, let's zero in on that a little bit. He will give you another Helper that he may abide with you forever.

Again, the Helper is God's Holy Spirit in us. It's not a person in the Godhead.

The translators typically use a male gender to reflect their personal bias because they thought that anything that comes from God is related to God or associated with God must be a male.

The very Bible note says, the Holy Spirit is called the Helper, the paraclete.

In the root of this word are the ideas of advising, exhorting, comforting, strengthening, interceding, and encouraging.

All the things that the power of God's Holy Spirit gives us.

Verse 20, at that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me and who loves me, will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.

Again, still talking about the Holy Spirit.

Verse 22, Judas, not as scary, it said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world?

Again, Jesus is still thinking and discussing the power of the Holy Spirit to come in his disciples.

And Jesus answered and said to him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him, and we will come and make our home with him.

So that same power that resides in Christ, that resides in the Father, can reside in us, and the Father and Jesus Christ can reside in us through the power of the Holy Spirit and literally make their home in us.

Verse 24, he who does not love me does not keep my words, and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father who sent me. These things I have spoken to you while being present with you, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to you remembrance all things that I said to you. And sure enough, that's exactly what happened.

After Matthew, Mark, and Luke wrote the synoptic Gospels, it was John who perhaps had those Gospels and was looking at them before he died, 90, 100 A.D. And he said, hey, you know what? I remember when this event occurred in the Passover. I'm going to write this down in my Gospel. This was left out before. Oh, this section here, they didn't mention. I'm going to add this into my Gospel. So this is exactly what happened. It was brought to his remembrance all the things that Jesus had said, even though it was 40, 50, 60 years after he witnessed Jesus saying those events by the time he wrote his Gospel around 90 to 100 A.D.

Verse 27, peace, I leave with you my peace. I give to you, not as the world gives it to you, because the world always gives it with some kind of condition. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard me say to you, I am going away and coming back to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice because I said, I am going to the Father, for my Father is greater than I. So Jesus looked upon, even though all of the terrible experiences he would go through, scourging and beating and crucifixion and death, he knew the end result is that he would ascend to heaven, be accepted as the ultimate wave sheep offering. And he was rejoicing because of that. Verse 29, and now I have told you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe.

I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me. Let's have zero in in verse 27. My peace, I leave with you my peace, I give to you. Galatians chapter 5 and verse 22. What are one of the fruits of God's Holy Spirit? It is peace.

And as I always tell people, always have and always will. When you receive something in writing that disturbs you or bothers you, you just have to ask yourself one simple question. That is, is the Spirit in which this is written, does it reflect the fruits of the Spirit or the works of the flesh? That's all you have to ask yourself. And you can discern the Spirit behind anything that's written, anything said in your ears.

Does it reflect these things? Love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentle self-control, against such there is no law? Or does it reflect lies, slanders, distortions, selfishness, anxiety, bitterness?

It's easy to tell. It's either one or the other. It can't be both. It's either the fruits of the Holy Spirit or it's the works of the flesh.

Jesus said He came to give us the fruits of His Spirit. Verse 30. The ruler of this world is coming and He has nothing with me. Of course, Satan was among the band in spirit. He was among the band of soldiers who were coming with swords and clubs and who were on their way to arrest a Christ.

John 14. Verse 31.

So at this point in time, where we'll conclude the Bible study today, they left the upper room and they traveled towards the Garden of Gethsemane. Now, the Garden of Gethsemane was on the Mount of Olives. So you'll see in some of the Gospels where it says they're heading towards the Mount of Olives because it's kind of synonymous. The Garden was on top of the Mount. And the next chapter, which we can't get into today, Jesus will continue to talk to them as they walk together as they're heading towards the Mount of Olives where Jesus wants to go into that Garden and get some prayer in before He's about to face some very tragic and horrible events. And we will try to cover that next time. But as the discussion ended, as same thing that we did on the Passover evening, it says, and when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.